Fake Out
by Jynx Harvest
Summary: Please don't read this fic. Deleting soon. It's just terrible. Mary Sue OC. Worst thing I've ever written. Leaving it up until I rewrite it. Please don't read this version.
1. No War to Fight

**Disclaimer: I don't own Star Trek, _The Enterprise_, or any of the characters except for my OC.**

**Warning: May contain some harsh language. May possibly contain hints of Spock/Uhura and will contain Chekov/Eprouve. Also, this is my first ever try on , and I'm not used to the format. Further, it is also my first try at a Star Trek story. Please don't shoot me.**

**Other notes: My OC, Emily Eprouve, is not the main character. I tried very hard to make her just an ordinary Starfleet Officer, and the story is written in Kirk's pov.**

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_Captain's log, stardate 4527.1._ The Enterprise_ has just received a distress call from Vulcan, they claim to be under attack by Klingons. We are heading to the planet at warp eight, and the crew is preparing for the worst possible situation.  
_

Captain Kirk pressed a button to end the log, and slowly lowered himself into his chair. He stared forward, looking from Lieutenant Sulu to the young Ensign Chekov.

"Status report, Mr. Chekov?" Kirk inquired. Chekov clicked something that the captain could not see.

"Fifteen minutes to Wulcan, sir." Chekov replied, checking the coordinates of _The Enterprise_. Kirk nodded in acknowledgement and put his hand through his hair, exhaling stressfully.

"Lieutenant Uhura, contact Ensign _E_prouv_e_, please." Kirk commanded, turning to face the communications officer.

"Yes, Captain." Uhura answered, flipping a switch at her station. "Bridge to _E_prouv_e_, Come in." she said.

A few floors down, the young Tactical Officer, Emily _E_prouv_e_, handed a phaser to an anonymous redshirt, then strode to the intercom. She poked a button on the intercom and leaned against the wall, coughing into her shoulder.

"_E_prouv_e_ here." she said.

"Is everyone armed and ready?" Uhura asked the young girl.

"Aye, Lieutenant." Emily responded, looking over her shoulder to see the army of redshirts. "We should very easily be able to help Vulcan knock some sense into those Klingon idiots."

"Very good, _E_prouv_e_. We are less than ten minutes away from Vulcan. Please report to the bridge to orbit." Uhura said. She waited for the ensign to respond, then turned off the intercom. Nyota turned to face her captain.

"She's on her way, sir." Uhura announced.

"Thank you, Lieutenant." Kirk responded. "Any updates from Vulcan?"

"Negative, Captain. It seems their communications are down, I cannot get in touch with them." Nyota said, shaking her head and glancing toward Mr. Spock.

Kirk followed Uhura's gaze to the first officer, _The Enterprise_'s very own half-Vulcan. He seemed troubled. Kirk rose up from his seat and ambled toward his friend.

"You doing alright, Spock? Not too worried?" Kirk questioned quietly, a touch of sympathy in his voice. The science officer quietly turned around.

"Worry is a human emotion, Jim." Spock remarked. "However, I am a bit…concerned with the legitimacy of the distress signal."

Kirk cocked an eyebrow. "Legitimacy, Mr. Spock?"

"Yes, Captain. Although Vulcans do no particularly care for the Klingons' methods, a treaty was established between the two races fourteen years, six months, and twenty-eight days ago. It would be most illogical of the Klingons to invade Vulcan for any reason." Spock explained. "Furthermore, I cannot think of any logical reason for Klingon to attack my home planet."

Kirk nodded thoughtfully. "You make a good point, Spock, but why would Vulcan send out an emergency distress signal if there was no emergency?" he inquired. "It's not likely that Vulcan would have any technical issues."

"I'm not sure, Captain. I am merely stating that we may be surprised upon arriving at Vulcan." Spock said.

"Well, what do you intend us to do about it? Should we wait until we receive more information?"

Spock sighed. "No, sir. We should go to Vulcan, I shall continue my assessment of the situation." The science officer turned around to continue what he had been doing before.

"Captain Kirk, five minutes to Wulcan, but…no sign of any Klingon wessels, sir." Chekov announced, mispronouncing several words. Kirk walked over to the navigator, looking perplexed.

"That's strange…" Kirk muttered, examining Chekov's compboard. "You may be right, Mr. Spock."

_E_prouv_e_ walked through the entrance to the bridge just then, coughing a few times, then heading to her post as one of the Orbital Engineers. She was the ship's acting Tactical Officer and Interrogation Surgeon, but could also perform several other positions—Orbital Engineer being one of them. Kirk acknowledged _E_prouv_e_, then she sat down and began working.

Kirk liked _E_prouv_e._ Not in a romantic sense, she was too young for that, but as a friend. The captain and the young girl had become very close friends during their time on _The Enterprise_. She was fourth in command, after Scotty. Emily _E_prouv_e_ always seemed to be coughing, as if in a constant cold, though she never acted as if she were sick. Emily had short, chocolate hair that she often wore in high, stubby pigtails. Her eyes were a honey color, and her skin was very pale. She was a child prodigy, and graduated from Star Fleet Academy when she was only sixteen years old. The young ensign was now nineteen years old, and it was rumored among the crewmen that she had romantic feelings for First Officer Spock.

Kirk, however, knew that to be untrue. Emily had confided in the captain that she very much cared for Pavel Chekov, and saw Mr. Spock as a "father figure" rather than a potential husband. Knowing this, Kirk laughed whenever someone brought up the possibility of _E_prouv_e_ being in love with the science officer.

"We are arriving at Wulcan, sir." Chekov's voice cut through the captain's thoughts.

"Still no sign of any Klingon starships, Captain." Sulu proclaimed. Jim Kirk bit his lip and exchanged glances with First Officer Spock.

"It appears there are no foreign vessels on the planet, Captain Kirk." Spock stated. There was a long silence, then _E_prouv_e_ turned to face Kirk.

"Begin to orbit, sir?" the ensign inquired. Kirk stood up and put a hand behind his head.

"Yes, Miss _E_prouv_e_, I suppose so. Ms. Uhura, please contact Doctor McCoy and ask him to go to the transporter platform." The captain commanded. "Mr. Spock, would you care to beam down to Vulcan with Bones and I to see what's the matter?" Kirk asked.

Spock agreed, and they both traveled to the transporter pad to meet the very confused doctor.

"What's going on, Jim?" McCoy demanded. "I'm a doctor, not a mercenary. How do you expect me to fight a thousand Klingons?" The doctor was staring at Kirk and Spock as if they had both lost their minds.

"There are no Klingons, Bones. It was a faulty distress call. We're just beaming down to check things out and learn what happened." Kirk explained as he stepped onto the transporter pad. McCoy looked surprised.

"Faulty? From Vulcan?" Bones repeated skeptically.

"Yes, Doctor, A rare occurrence indeed. It is very unlike Vulcan to make such a large mistake without notice." Spock said, following the captain onto the platform with McCoy.

Kirk crossed his arms, deep in thought. It _was_ unlike Vulcan. In fact, he couldn't name a single time that planet had ever made such a mistake. Jim glanced toward the unconcerned Spock, then faced the transporter chief. Mr. Scott was standing behind the man, scolding him for some probably unimportant mistake. After a while, Scotty stopped and allowed the transporter chief to continue beaming Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock and Dr. McCoy to Vulcan. Kirk smiled at Mr. Scott, then disappeared along with Spock and Bones—and reappeared a few feet away from the Vulcan Ambassador, Sarek.

Also known as Spock's father.


	2. Problems On Vulcan, Problems For Crew

**Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek. All characters belong to...whoever owns Star Trek. Whatever. Point is, I only own Emily Eprouve.**

**Warning: I wasn't quite sure if this was k+ or T. It will get violent in later chapters. May contain hints of Spock/Uhura and Chekov/Eprouve.**

**Notes: I'm new to this website and this is my first attempt at a Star Trek story ever (with the exception of the first chapter of this story.)So if it's terrible, please don't shoot me. Hehe. Constructive critisism is welcomed. Although there is an OC in this story, Emily is FAR from being the main character. It's Kirk POV. I hope you enjoy it.**

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Spock, Kirk, McCoy, and Sarek sat at a round table, discussing the distress call. It was much hotter on Vulcan than it was on Earth, and the air was thinner than Bones and Kirk were used to. It was decided that it would be illogical for the two humans to stay on Vulcan for more than an hour, and the doctor was already sweating. Kirk leaned forward onto the table, irritated as Sarek spoke.

"So you see, Captain, I'm quite certain that no such distress call was sent by any of our communications officers. No orders were given out, sir." The Vulcan Ambassador explained knowledgably. "Furthermore, we have not had any contact with the Klingons for two months, four days, and six hours."

Kirk sighed stressfully. "Of course, Ambassador, but perhaps there was a malfunction?" he said, unwilling to consider that Uhura may have lied about the distress signal. Sarek stood up gracefully, eyes on Captain Kirk.

"I doubt that is possible, sir. The communication devices were all checked and upgraded two days and three hours ago—maintenance was performed where it was needed." Spock's father explained emotionlessly. "However, if you wish to proceed to the communications office, you are welcome to." the Vulcan said. Spock also stood up, nodding.

"Yes, father. It would be logical to make sure the equipment is fully operable and that no errors occurred." The Science Officer agreed. McCoy and Kirk lifted themselves out of their chairs in unison, both moving slower than they normally would. Sarek walked out the door, heading to the communications office. Spock started to follow the Ambassador, but hesitated, and waited for his two friends to catch up. Kirk was breathing more heavily now, his lungs craving more air than he was able to get anywhere on Vulcan. The Captain followed his first officer to the communications room. There were only three officers at their posts since nothing in particular was going wrong.

Sarek stopped in front of some unoccupied equipment and turned to face the Starfleet officers.

"I believe you will find everything intact." The Vulcan stated. Spock began to search the office. The Captain was about to join him, but Dr. McCoy pulled him aside.

"What's the matter, Bones?" Kirk asked the doctor. McCoy didn't answer, he just rummaged around his pockets until he pulled a hypospray out. McCoy used it on himself, then held it up to the side of the Captain's neck.

"To make it easier to breathe," Bones muttered, injecting the medicine into Kirk. Kirk thanked him, then they joined Spock in the search for the cause of the distress call.

Ambassador Sarek and a few other Vulcans were also checking the databases and history, concealing any critical information from the Starfleet officers. McCoy and Kirk tried not to be too nosy, but they were, after all, performing an investigation. After twenty minutes or so, a Vulcan female spoke.

"How peculiar…" The girl started quietly. Sarek looked over to the Vulcan.

"What is it, T'Prenae?" Spock's father queried. The Vulcan—T'Prenae—leaned closer to the screen she was examining.

"My station, sir." She told the Ambassador. "I read today's history, and it states that early this morning a priority one distress signal was sent to the starship _Enterprise_ from myself." T'Prenae almost looked confused, but being a Vulcan she was mostly able to conceal her perplexity. " However, Ambassador, I was not here at that hour; nor did I send an emergency call of any kind."

Spock and Kirk exchanged glances, then stepped over to the Vulcan along with Sarek. "Strange indeed," Sarek breathed. "The signal was sent to _The Enterprise_ alone?"

"Yes, sir."

"Fascinating…if you were not at your station, Lieutenant, where were you?" Sarek interrogated.

"Home, Ambassador. The message was sent out before the beginning of my shift." T'Prenae replied. "I suppose it was a malfunction, sir. Logic leads me to believe that it would be nearly impossible for someone to be able to come in here unnoticed and send out a distress signal. Furthermore, even if that were possible I can not think of anyone who would find it necessary." The girl explained.

"I agree." Sarek declared. "Please examine the equipment for any issues that would cause such a troublesome malfunction, and fix it posthaste." He commanded. The Vulcan female acknowledged his request and left to find a mechanic. Sarek pivoted and looked at Kirk.

"My apologizes, Captain. We were unaware of the distress call; I am sorry for the trouble we caused." Ambassador Sarek said. Kirk shook his head.

"No, no, it's fine. We're just glad to hear Vulcan isn't under attack." Kirk chuckled with a smile, following the ambassador as he started to walk out of the communication center.

"Yes," Spock agreed. "It is most fortunate, indeed." The group stopped outside from where they landed.

"If you wish to stay on Vulcan, you are welcome to." Sarek told the Starfleet officers. Kirk smiled.

"Maybe next time, Ambassador, but we really should get going." Jim said. "Unless, of course, Mr. Spock would like to stick around for a while."

Spock shook his head. "As enjoyable as it is to be home, we _are_ on a mission, Captain." The First Officer reminded him. Kirk sighed and contacted _The Enterprise_.

"Three to beam up," he mumbled. The transporter officer acknowledged, and Kirk closed the communicator.

"Very well, then. Have a safe journey." Sarek said to the group, looking mainly at Spock. "It was nice to see you."

"Likewise." Spock responded, giving his father the Vulcan salute. Sarek returned the salute, and the landing party was beamed aboard the ship.

"You know, Spock, you're allowed to take shore leave. Haven't you heard of a vacation?" McCoy teased, stepping off of the transporter pad. Kirk and Spock followed, walking past the transporter officer. The officer looked different somehow, and was smiling somewhat mischievously. Kirk paid it little attention and continued to walk.

"Vacations are usually taken _away_ from the home, are they not, Doctor?" Spock retorted. McCoy rolled his eyes and looked back over his shoulder as they strode down to the elevator.

"That officer look different to you?" Bones inquired.

"Actually," Kirk said. "Yes, he did. Can't put my finger on it…maybe he got a haircut?" McCoy shrugged and stepped into the elevator, Spock and Kirk following. Kirk leaned against the wall of the elevator shaft and exhaled deeply. "What a day," he muttered.

"Just take it easy, Jim. Try not to overwork yourself." Bones warned, exiting the elevator when it arrived at sickbay. Kirk agreed, and the doors closed again to head to the bridge.

When Spock and Kirk got there, Spock went over to his station and Kirk to his. Scotty removed himself from the Captain's chair, smiling.

"Welcome back, sir. All is well?" Scotty said, switching places with the captain.

"Of course, Mr. Scott. It was only a malfunction in their system." Kirk assured the engineer. "Mr. Chekov, set coordinates to…" the captain trailed off. "To wherever we were going before this mess."

"Argus X, sir?" Chekov asked as Scotty left the bridge.

"Yes, Ensign."

"Right away, sir."

"_E_prouv_e_, prepare to leave orbit. " Kirk commanded.

"Aye, Captain."

Kirk looked over to the helmsman. Sulu was sitting rigidly, as if nervous or scared. Kirk cocked an eyebrow. There was no reason for that, they were leaving Vulcan for an uninhabited planet that they wouldn't arrive at for at least four days. It was nothing to be afraid of. Kirk updated his Captain's log with the information of the false alarm/computer malfunction, then interrogated the frightened helmsman.

"Everything alright, Mr. Sulu?" Kirk questioned. Sulu looked at the captain, then turned back to his work.

"Y-yes…_captain_." Sulu said nervously. His voice was gruff and lower than it normally was. It sounded almost nothing like Sulu's regular voice. The way he said "captain" was the same way Chekov would say "Cossack". It was so strange, in fact, that the navigator turned to Sulu, looking concerned.

"Are you sure, Hikaru?" Chekov asked the helmsman.

"I said I was fine, _Ensign_." Sulu growled angrily. He spoke in the same manner. _E_prouv_e_ quickly looked back at the two, somewhat shocked that such an angry voice came from Sulu. Kirk blinked in surprise. He had never heard Mr. Sulu refer to Pavel as "Ensign" before. Much less spoken in that tone.

Something wasn't right.


	3. Violence and Fury

**Disclaimer: I don't own Star Trek.**

**Warning: May contain mild cursing and violence, may contain hints of Spock/Uhura and Chekov/Eprouve**

**Notes: This is my first ever Star Trek story, so some things may be incorrect. Don't shoot me xD. Also, although there is an OC in this story she is *NOT* the main character. Kirk's POV.**

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Chekov muttered an inaudible, quick apology to Hikaru, then shrunk back to his work. His shoulders were raised and his head was down, his back slid farther down on his chair than he normally would be sitting. Chekov was blushing, as if ashamed that he had even thought about asking the innocent question.

The other ensign, Emily _E_prouv_e,_ broke the long silence with a rather painful sounding cough. "Uhm, we are no longer orbiting Vulcan, Captain." The young girl announced, eyes flickering from Kirk to Chekov.

Jim blinked in surprise, his stare at Sulu broken by _E_prouv_e_'s raspy yet sweet voice. "Very good, Ensign. You may go back down to the armory, if you'd like." Kirk told the Tactical Officer.

Emily nodded and headed toward the exit, examining the suddenly harsh Lieutenant Sulu and the upset navigator. She shook her head with a sigh as she walked to the elevator. Sulu was most likely just having an off day, and _E_prouv_e_ had other concerns. For instance, taking back all the phasers that she had handed out to redshirts who were going to fight the Klingons on Vulcan. The ensign scowled; while she didn't mind being the Tactical Officer, she found that her unofficial jobs were more enjoyable. Orbital Engineering was fun, but she found that when she needed to hack into something—a computer, a starship, an old-fashioned lock—that was what she was best at. Emily found _that_ job the most fun as well as the most important and useful. Spock was also able to do it, but _E_prouv_e_ did it better. Her other job on the ship was the Interrogation Surgeon. She found it fun and interesting, but it was often frustrating and cruel. The Starfleet Officer was secretly glad that she almost never needed to perform her interrogational duties.

Back on the bridge, Kirk was paying special attention to Mr. Sulu. The helmsman was rhythmically tapping his finger on his compboard—or rather, jabbing his nail into the screen over and over again. His other hand was supporting his head, his fingers combed into his jet hair.

Kirk decided to take the risk, and sat up a little straighter. "Shield and weapon systems reset, Mr. Sulu?" He asked. The helmsman stayed in his position, as if trying to avoid looking the captain directly in the eye. Sulu scowled, the hand that he was tapping with contracting into a fist.

"Yes, _sir_." Sulu growled through gritted teeth. His glare into the nothingness in front of him was dark enough to stab through even the proudest of Starfleet officers. Chekov stared at his apparently livid friend, then turned to the captain skeptically. Kirk shrugged, his eyes showing that he was just as confused as the ensign.

The ship travelled through the void of space at approximately warp five. The emergency excursion to Vulcan had used quite a bit of the starship's power, so they tried not to waste too much energy. The pattern of a harmless query being asked and Sulu responding with hostility went on for hours. Kirk even suggested to Hikaru that it might have been a good idea to head down to sickbay, but that only made Sulu angrier. He denied that anything was wrong, and used his best efforts to try to convince the crew that he was neither ill nor stressed. Pavel tried to reason with his friend, only to be insulted and threatened. Soon the whole bridge, excluding Spock, was verbally fighting with the helmsman. It did not go on for too long, however, due to the Captain becoming more irritated than he had been in weeks.

"Quiet!" Kirk yelled angrily. Silence fell over the bridge, leaving an eerie sensation in Jim's eardrums. He was standing now, pacing around Sulu and the other officers, his brow contracted in frustration and his jaw set in a disappointed frown. "Now listen here." Kirk commanded. "I am the captain of this starship, and I won't have any inter-crew fighting on here—verbal or otherwise. Understood?" Various "Yes, sir"s were spoken quietly from the crew, though Sulu remained silent, his eyes locked in what seemed to be a permanent glare. Kirk sighed, shaking his head in disappointment.

"Just…everyone, go…do something else. Anything. You know what? Go eat. Now. Just get off the damn bridge; and when you come back, I expect everyone to behave appropriately." The Captain ordered, rotating away from the direction of his crew. "I simply can't believe this. It's outrageous! Starfleet Officers behaving like children…" Kirk trailed off. His point had been made, the workers on the bridge looked down in shame, with the exception of the helmsman who was the cause of the chaos. Kirk exited the area and marched down the hallways of his starship. He couldn't think of any cause for the incident; unless, of course, Lieutenant Sulu was lying and was under either physical or emotional stress. That was the only reasonable explanation, but what could be wrong? The helmsman had seemed perfectly normal before Kirk and Spock beamed down to Vulcan.

The C.O. walked through the corridors of _The Enterprise_, arriving at the mess hall five minutes after he had left the bridge. The mess hall was relatively quiet, there were only seven or eight officers there—after all, it was still a little early to be eating dinner, but it was as good an excuse as any to be able to get off of the bridge and away from the hostility. Kirk just was not in the mood for any kind of problems that day, after speeding to Vulcan from half way across the galaxy for no reason and wasting some of the starship's energy. Doctor McCoy and Scott were among the few crewmen in the mess hall, however, and they both looked quite surprised to see the captain.

"Hey, Jim. You're here early." Bones said, watching Kirk stick a card into the food synthesizer. Kirk waited for his usual meal, then took the tray to the table that the doctor and the engineer were sitting at and sat down, looking a bit distressed.

"I skipped breakfast and lunch, I was a bit preoccupied." Kirk said bitterly, taking a bite of the synthesized food. "Mr. Sulu started acting strangely. He seems agitated and he was openly hostile to the bridge officers, particularly Mr. Chekov and myself." The captain explained. "I'm sure Spock and Uhura are on their way as well."

Scotty's eyes narrowed. "Hostile? Him, too?" He asked quietly. "The lad who was runnin' the transporter today, he was actin' jus like tha' way ye describe Mr. Sulu." The engineer explained. "And when all of ye were beaming down te Vulcan, he almos' transported all of ye right into space! It nearly looked like he did it on purpose as well!"

Bones and Kirk exchanged worried glances. "On purpose?" Kirk repeated.

"Aye, sir."

"Well, that's just _wonderful_." The captain said sarcastically, holding back a groan. "Do you think they're sick?" he asked McCoy, not quite ready to deal with another contagious deep space illness. It seemed that Sulu was always infected first, and his fencing skills often made him dangerous when he was delusional. Leonard leaned back slightly, looking troubled.

"I'm not sure, Jim." The Doctor replied, staring up at the ceiling. "But Nurse Chapel was behaving the same way." His brow contracted in exasperation. "I don't understand! She was perfectly fine before we transported to Vulcan…Christine never left sickbay while I was there." Bones sighed quietly. "I'll check them out in a little while. Maybe it's just stress, we _have_ been rather busy lately."

Kirk fell into a slumped position, looking bitter. "Whether it's stress or a disease, I won't tolerate it on the ship. Three officers are showing violent hostility, and I want it taken care of." He grumbled. McCoy elbowed the Captain's shoulder, rolling his eyes.

"Calm down, Jim. I told you, I'll call them down to sickbay after—" The CMO was cut off by Spock and Uhura entering the mess hall. Uhura's facial expression showed that she was goaded, aggravated and insulted; she separated from the science officer and headed to the food synthesizer.

Spock, as always, was emotionless, but his posture showed that he was disturbed by something. Instead of getting his meal, he strode toward the table and spoke to Bones.

"Doctor McCoy," he started. "I am slightly concerned with the health of our helmsman, Lieutenant Sulu, he—"

"I already know, Spock." Leonard interrupted hastily. "Captain Kirk just finished explaining to me. It seems that two other officers are behaving in the same fashion and I intend to take care of it once I finish here." Spock raised an eyebrow, then nodded and walked to the food synthesizer as Uhura was going back to the table. She put her tray on the table and sat down, scowling.

"That Sulu, he's such a jerk today!" Nyota muttered angrily. "What's gotten into him?" she asked rhetorically. Some time went by, Spock came back to the table, other crewmen from the bridge started entering the mess hall, all looking either angry or confused, or in Chekov's case, a little upset. Sulu entered immediately before Chekov did, and instead of going to the table that he, Chekov, _E_prouv_e_, and a few redshirts would normally eat at, he went to a table that was in the far left corner of the room—the one farthest away from all the others and had less chairs. Scotty and Bones exchanged glances, but Kirk was focused on the ship's navigator. Pavel looked depressed as he watched Sulu sit down so far away from civilization. Kirk saw him sigh, then head over to the table that his other friends were sitting at—and everyone at that table was also watching Sulu, dumbfounded.

Kirk frowned, sympathizing for the officers. He might have gone over and said something to them if it weren't for the transporter officer walking in along with Nurse Chapel, both of them with the same ferocious glare that Sulu had on. The CMO sat up a little straighter, about to speak to the nurse.

"Ah, Ms. Chapel," McCoy started. "if I could have a word with you for a minute, I—" he cut himself off, watching the nurse walk right past him, the transporter officer looking back over his shoulder, his livid eyes stabbing through Dr. McCoy. The two officer walked directly over to the table that Hikaru sat at, none of the three of them going to the food synthesizers. They sat in a triangular pattern and quietly began speaking to one another, but Kirk could not hear them above the noise of the mess hall. The Captain faced his exasperated friend, now looking more irritated than confused.

"Well, it looks like I won't be able to take the easy way out of this one," McCoy sighed. "I'll tell them to report to sickbay as soon as possible." The doctor rose, but was not able to get to the three ill officers.

_The Enterprise_ had begun to shake violently, twisting and turning as if there were an earthquake in space. McCoy was unprepared for this and fell the moment he stood up, not hitting the floor due to the Captain's swift intervention. Kirk helped the doctor back onto his feet, gliding out of his seat in the process. Various officers fell to the ground, Scotty and Spock were clinging to their table for dear life. Jim stood up, taking a few involuntary steps backward and gave his orders as the food synthesizers began to spit out various pieces of fruit and meat.

"Quickly, everyone who belongs on the bridge—" The Captain was cut off, the starship quickly changing course, knocking him off of his feet and into a wall. Kirk winced and hoisted himself upward, trying to avoid an airborne orange. "Get there _now_, and engineering, we need stabilizers! Find out what's going on and _fix it!_" he tried to command over the sounds of crashes and screams. Jim heard various "Yes, sir"s and "Aye, Captain"s, and watched ten crewmen make their way to the exit either by crawling or by attempting to walk. Ensign Chekov was the first one out, followed by Scotty, then Spock, then Uhura. Kirk looked back over his shoulder to see Sulu and the other 'infected' crewmen, seeing that none of them were making any attempt to move.

"Go, Jim!" Bones yelled over the chaotic noise, falling to the left. "They'll need you on the bridge, I'll take care of those three!"

"No, no, forget it for now!" The C.O. shouted. "The ship as rough as she is now, someone's bound to get injured; take Christine and go back to sickbay—" Kirk fell, a run-away chair knocking him over. He struggled to get back up, then continued. "Once this is cleared up, I'll give the order and you can check them out. For now, deal with the rest of the crew!" McCoy hollered a confirmation, and slowly began to make his way over to the nurse. Kirk darted in a zig-zagged line to the exit, failing to run straight. The moment he was out of the mess hall and in the corridor an announcement was made over the intercom.

"Captain Kirk, you're needed on the bridge. Commanding Officer to bridge, please." Uhura announced. Kirk quickened his pace; something was obviously very wrong. In the hallway, various officers kept tripping and losing their balance, and one crewman was already unconscious. The Captain arrived at the bridge, out of breathe.

"What's happening?" He demanded breathlessly, making his way to his station. Spock, Uhura, and one other officer were gathered around Chekov's station; both Ensign Chekov and Spock were frantically messing with the controls on the navigator's compboard. Chekov looked back over his shoulder, his eyes wide with unspoken panic, then turned back to his work.

"Sir, the coordinates—" Chekov started, nearly falling out of his seat after the starship gave another lurch. "They have been reset!"

"What?" Kirk hissed. "To where?!" Spock had another go at fixing the station, but his efforts proved fruitless. Chekov just shook his head, appearing to have given up. He sighed and turned, facing his captain, his face grim and a chip on his shoulder.

"Klingon." The navigator replied grimly, his eyes dim with the horror of the truth. The Captain was silent for a moment. If they were to arrive at Klingon, they'd surely be interrogated, tortured and killed. This was a truth Jim Kirk was not willing to accept.

"Well," he said quietly. "Change them back."

"We cannot, sir…even Mr. Spock has tried—" the ship gave another quick jerk forward, knocking one of the officers of his feet. Lieutenant Uhura helped him back up again, the irritated look that had been on her face was replaced by an expression of worry.

"What about the rocking? Are the ship's stabilizers down?" Kirk inquired after a long, depressing silence.

"Mr. Scott is working on it now," Spock told the captain. "We believe that someone hacked into the computer to change the coordinates and disable the stabilizers." he said, continuing to work on Chekov's station.

Kirk fell backward, having nothing to hold onto to support himself. "Keep trying; has anyone contacted Ms. _E_prouv_e_ yet?" he asked, lowering himself into his chair. "And for goodness's sakes," Kirk pointed to the nameless crewman. "Take over Mr. Sulu's position! I don't think the Klingons are going to just let us pass through without a fight."

"Yes, sir." The officer sat at Sulu's station and activated the shields and phasers. Kirk stared forward grimly, fists clenched. He didn't need to guess twice as to who reset the coordinates and disabled the stabilizers of _The Enterprise_. He just didn't believe it.


	4. The Art of Space Travel

**Disclaimer: I don't own Star Trek.**

**Warning: The next few chapters will be violent. May contain Chekov/Eprouve and Spock/Uhura but I'm not sure.**

**Author's note: Sorry for not updating recently, guys! I just graduated middle school and my schedule got a little hectic. ^^' I should be updating more now, though. And thank you all for the reviews and favorites! You make me feel *uber special*!!!:D**

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"Bridge to Mr. Scott! Bridge to Mr. Scott! Scotty, come in!" Kirk commanded over the intercom, exasperated. A few drops of sweat clung to his forehead, his eyes flickering to Chekov's station as Spock and Pavel continued their attempt at restoring the previous coordinates.

"Aye, Captain, Scott here." The Chief Engineer answered, his voice full of mixed emotions.

"What's going on? Can you fix it?" Kirk pried. Scotty sighed, shaking his head left to right slowly.

"I'm not sure, sir." He said. "She's goin' at warp ten, and it's usin' up all the energy. If I enable the stabilizers, we may get a power outage."

"Well, are you able to slow the ship down?" Kirk interrogated, getting anxious.

"Not for another thirty minutes. The system needs to reset itself and cool down, but I'm working on it, Captain." Mr. Scott explained, adjusting something in the engine room. Kirk groaned.

"We don't _have_ thirty minutes, Scotty. We'll be in Klingon territory in twenty. You need to work faster!" Kirk insisted, wiping some sweat off of his brow, eyes flickering to the First Officer who was still tampering with Chekov's station.

"It's not a question of how fast I'm working, Kirk! I canna change the laws of physics, I've _got_ to have thirty minutes!" The Engineer retorted, glaring hopelessly at the intercom. "You need to change the coordinates. It will be easier than resetting the system before its ready, at least."

Kirk sighed. "All right, just keep trying. Kirk out." The Captain stood up, wobbly due to the unsteadiness of the starship. He walked up to Chekov's station and examined the situation. Kirk sighed, he didn't know how he'd be able to get them out of this. If they went to Klingon…he didn't even want to think about what would happen. But losing power wouldn't be good either. The Captain started pacing around the bridge as he gave his orders. "Now listen here." He commanded. "Someone get Ms. _E_prouv_e_ up here and let her have a try at hacking the system. We need to get the coordinates straightened out as soon as we can. If we're not back on course in ten minutes, then…" Kirk walked over to Nyota. "…You'll need to contact Starfleet, and possibly Klingon, Ms. Uhura." The Captain said. "Once everything's back to normal, have security find Mr. Sulu."

The crew acknowledged their captain and proceeded to carry out his orders. Spock and Chekov were still furiously doing everything in their power to change the coordinates to no avail. The replacement helmsman found that he could not raise the starship's shields, much to Kirk's dissatisfaction. The rocking of the _Enterprise_ wasn't helping much, either. Even Spock was starting to show signs of annoyance.

"_Captain's log, supplemental. Three officers were showing signs of aggression toward the rest of the crew, one of these being the helmsman Lieutenant Sulu. While Sulu was alone on the bridge, the ship's coordinates changed from Argus X to Klingon and the stabilizers were deactivated. We can neither restore the coordinates nor the stabilizers, and with _The Enterprise_ traveling at warp ten, our chances of survival are…slim. If our young Ensign _E_prouv_e_ cannot hack into the system, Lieutenant Uhura will be forced to contact Starfleet. If worse comes to worse, we may even need to contact Klingon and explain the situation before they see us as a threat. I don't know what I'm more concerned about—the three possibly ill officers aboard _The Enterprise_, our energy running low, our lack of stability, or the fact that my ship is on an unstoppable trek to Klingon territory."_

Kirk ended his log as the Tactical Officer entered the bridge. She looked somewhat skeptical, as only the officers on the bridge were aware of what was transpiring. "Captain, what exactly is going on?" _E_prouv_e_ coughed, confused.

"We have three insane crewmen on the loose, our stabilizers are down and we're headed straight for Klingon at warp ten speed." Kirk mechanically explained in one breath. The Ensign's eyes widened.

"Oh. Well, shit!"

"Chekov and Spock can't reset the coordinates and our shields won't go up. Think you can hack the system?" The Captain questioned. _E_prouv_e _strode over to the navigator's station and examined it thoroughly, coughing quietly into her shoulder.

"I don't know, sir…" Emily started, sounding unsure of herself. "I've never seen anything like this, whoever made this happen must have had very specific, broad, sophisticated training." She said, starting to type in some useless codes. Kirk had an expression of defeat clear on his face, his tone grew pale.

"So, in other words, you have no clue how to fix it." The Captain muttered. _E_prouv_e_ sighed and pressed down two buttons while rapidly jabbing a few keys. Spock raised an eyebrow, curious about the Ensign's methods of hacking into complex systems.

"Pretty much." She flipped numerous switches repeatedly. "But the old-fashioned way never fails." The officer went on clicking the buttons and typing in codes. Kirk groaned.

"Old-fashioned way, Ensign?" Spock inquired, watching the girl closely.

_E_prouv_e_ kicked part of the system that was under Chekov's station as hard as she possibly could, making Uhura, Kirk, and Chekov jump. Suddenly a small LED light on the compboard flickered on, and Ensign _E_prouv_e_ checked the screen again. She smiled proudly. "Yes, Mr. Spock. Poking random buttons and beating the bloody hell out of the hardware. Maybe not the most _professional_ way to reset a system, but definitely the fastest." Emily explained as she stood up and motioned Chekov toward his station.

The Russian officer examined his post as the starship suddenly took a sharp ninety degree turn. He almost fell into the young girl, but he managed to get a grip on his desk before he lost his balance. (Sulu's replacement, however, was not so lucky—he slid out of his chair and landed flat on the ground, and Uhura had to help him to his feet for the second time.) Chekov stared at his screen for a few seconds, then let out a quiet sigh of relief.

"The ship has changed course, Captain. We are now on our way to Argus X…the coordinates are no longer set to Klingon." Pavel announced, shaking his head with a slight smile on his face. Kirk stared at _E_prouv_e_, astounded.

"And our shields are able to be enforced, sir, though I no longer believe they are necessary." Declared Sulu's replacement.

"Fascinating…" Spock muttered, slightly shocked that a female human teenager had the capability of fixing a technical problem that he was unable to. Emily coughed quietly, grinning with pride.

"Wow. Thank you, Ms._ E_prouv_e_." The Captain said, his voice a mixture of relief and disbelief. "Now, as helpful as it is to not be on course for Klingon, we still have other pressing matters to attend to. If you would be so kind as to go to the Engineering room to assist Mr. Scott in reengaging the stabilizers and slowing down the ship, that would be most obliging."

"Aye, Captain." _E_prouv_e_ replied with a nod. She swiftly pivoted and left the bridge to go help Scotty. Spock returned to his station as did Uhura. Chekov went on marveling over the miracle that just occurred, mumbling grateful Russian praises as he continued his duties. _The Enterprise_ was still rather rocky, but now that they were back on course and Sulu wasn't at the helm, Kirk felt much less stressed. The familiar whistle sounded at the Captain's station, so Kirk took the few steps back and switched on the intercom.

"Kirk here."

"Jim, what's happening? Why's the ship so—" Doctor McCoy started, but was cut off when the starship gave another lurch forward. The Captain figured he must have lost his balance or something. McCoy composed himself. "…So unstable?" Bones asked. Kirk lowered himself into his chair, exhaling deeply as he did so.

"Trust me, you don't want to know. It should be back to normal in fifteen minutes or so." Kirk replied. "How is everything down there? Any injuries?" He inquired, lightly changing the subject. Bones hesitated, possibly desiring to argue the point but then deciding it was better not to irritate the Captain.

"We've been better," The doctor admitted. "But we've also been worse. The bad news is I have a good thirty patients down here. The good news is most of them aren't critical, it's mostly minor injuries." McCoy explained, looking over his shoulder at the many patients. "It would be really helpful if _The Enterprise_ would stop rocking around so much, though." Bones scowled.

"I'm sure Scotty is doing all he can, Bones." Kirk assured the doctor. "And I just sent Ms. _E_prouv_e_ down to help him. Once the ship is stable again and all of the injured crewmen have been taken care of, we'll get security to find Mr. Sulu and the others for you to examine." The Captain stated.

"All right, but take it easy, Jim. We've been having so much trouble lately that I'm worried about your stress…it wouldn't be good if you had a panic attack on us." McCoy warned his friend.

"Sure." The Captain replied emotionlessly, knowing he would probably not be able to keep his word. "Kirk out."

Just then, the lights on the bridge flickered a few times, then darkness crept over the entire starship. The Captain stared forward into the nothingness, and held his palm out in front of himself. He saw nothing but blackness. It looked as if his fellow crewmen had all but disappeared. Kirk groaned quietly as he groped around for something to hold onto to keep him steady as the ship continued to twist and turn violently. "Mr. Spock?" He asked loudly, looking for an explanation and trying to talk over the loud bumps and murmurings coming from the hallway.

"I believe Mr. Scott _did_ state the possibility of a power-outage, sir…" Spock declared, unsure of the whereabouts of his Captain.

"Lieutenant Uhura," Kirk called. "Please tell me you where able to contact Starfleet before the blackout?" he pleaded.

"Negative, sir…" Uhura replied glumly. "It seems that our communications are down as well."

Kirk blinked his eyes a few times, attempting to adjust his vision to the darkness of the ship. "Well, that's wonderful. Just perfectly great news. Honestly. I've never heard anything better than that in my _entire_ life. We're floating through space with no power and no stability, we have three insane crewmen reeking havoc on the ship, over thirty injured officers and _no way to contact—_"

"Please, sir," Chekov interrupted the Captain's ramblings. "Perhaps you should rest, Captain, I do believe you are beginning to stress…" The young navigator rose, though he could see neither his commanding officer nor the ashamed face of Nyota Uhura.

"_Rest_, Ensign? At a time like this?" Kirk retorted. "I will _rest_ whenever I see fit, and I don't think that this moment is a good time to—" He cut himself off as the lights switched back on, their illumination so bright compared to the blackness that had just ruled the bridge that it was almost blinding to the crewmen. The ship tilted from side to side, this time managing to knock over every officer on the bridge as a whistle went off at the captain's chair.

"Scott to bridge." Scotty said over the intercom and the Captain hoisted himself up off the ground and back into his chair.

"Yes, Mr. Scott," Kirk sighed as Chekov stood up and gave him a disappointed glare. The Captain looked away sheepishly, not willing to deal with petty problems at the moment.

"I'll be able to reactivate the stabilizers within five minutes, sir." Scott reported, wiping the sweat off his brow. "But, as you probably noticed, we might not have enough power to _last_ five minutes. Stabilizing the ship may result in the whole system short-circuiting." The Scotsman stated, the situation looking grim.

"Use the emergency energy reserves and stabilize the ship. We'll land at the nearest Federation planet or space station to refuel." Kirk responded mechanically. "We'll keep trying to contact Starfleet, but for now just focus on keeping the power on and getting the ship stable."

"I could do with some help, Captain." Scotty mentioned. "Most of my men were injured and are in sickbay right now." He explained, fiddling with the controls and examining his nearly empty station. Kirk raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"I sent Ms. _E_prouv_e_ down to help you a few minutes ago," Kirk replied, puzzled. "She should have been with you by now." He said.

"That's strange," Scotty muttered. "Oh, well, the ship's a bit unhinged, I'm sure she's on her way here." He stated lightly. The Engineer pulled a lever on the control panel, and the _Enterprise_ gave one final stagger before it regain its steadiness. "There we are. Everything's runnin' perfectly now, sir, though I recommend we refuel."

"Of course, Mr. Scott." Kirk answered with a sigh of relief. "Thank you."

"Aye, sir." The Engineer replied with a sad smile. "Scott out."


	5. The GreenEyed Sulu

**Disclaimer: I don't own Star Trek.**

**Warning: Contains cursing and violence, may contain hints of Spock/Uhura and Chekov/Eprouve. Work in Progress. blah, blah, blah, you know the drill.**

**Notes: This is my first ever Star Trek story, so some things may be incorrect. Don't shoot me xD. Constructive criticism appreciated greatly! ...Most of this was written at 2 AM.**

* * *

"Oi, Sulu!" _E_prouv_e_ called down the hall to the helmsman. The officer halted, but didn't face the Ensign. Sulu stood, facing the opposite direction, his fists clenched tightly and his jaw set. Emily coughed as she strode toward the officer. "Mind telling me what you're doing away from the bridge?" She asked, fully aware of Mr. Sulu's possible illness. The helmsman turned around to face the girl.

"As a Lieutenant, I am your superior." Sulu growled. "My whereabouts are no business of yours, _Ensign!_" Emily cocked and eyebrow as she folded her arms.

"On the contrary, Mr. Sulu," _E_prouv_e_ started, showing no fear of the helmsman. "As the Interrogational Officer of _The Enterprise,_ I have every right to ask you anything." She smirked, "Sir."

Sulu scowled. "Fine, then." He said. "I was on my way to my quarters. I…haven't been feeling well today." The helmsman explained quietly. The young Ensign stared at the Lieutenant, then gave him a smile that showed she was nervous but not afraid.

"Ah." _E_prouv_e_ breathed. "Is that why your eyes are green, sir?" A look of shock crept over 'Sulu''s face, and there was a long silence. The Ensign went on, "You're the one who reset the coordinates and disengaged the stabilizers and shields. You and the transporter officer and 'Christine'." The defiant young girl pressed. "I bet you're also the one who messed with the distress call from Vulcan. I suppose there were no technical issues after all…just a Klingon infestation."

'Sulu' wouldn't take anymore of the Ensign's reasoning's. He threw a punch at the girl, knocking her into a wall. "My, my, my, perhaps Starfleet Officers aren't as dumb as we Klingons believed?" The Klingon disguised as Sulu laughed. "Or maybe they are, and it's just the little brats that are good at guessing games."

_E_prouv_e_ coughed violently as she stood up. "Where's Hikaru? And Nurse Chapel and the other officer?" She demanded, her honey-colored eyes filled with fury. 'Sulu' exploded in low laughter. He pulled out a small device from his belt and lunged at the Ensign with it. Emily quickly evaded the attack, unsure of what the little mechanism was—which, as a Tactical Officer, frustrated her intensely.

"Alright. So why'd you pick _The Enterprise?_ Are there Klingons on other Starfleet vessels, too?" _E_prouv_e_ interrogated, dodging yet another kick. She decided it would be best not to hit him until he got tired and aggravated with her. 'Sulu' growled and swiped for the Ensign's throat, Emily only scarcely getting out of the way in time.

"Don't be foolish," The Klingon snarled. "This is the only Federation starship that we Klingons are interested in…or rather, this starship has the only Captain we're interested in."

_E_prouv_e_'s eyes widened. "Captain Kirk? What the hell do you want with him?" She coughed as she backed up slowly, trying to make her way to the intercom without being too obvious. Emily was relatively strong for her age and gender, but she still had practically no chance against a full-grown Klingon male intended on killing her. 'Sulu' chuckled darkly.

"That is irrelevant," He retorted with an evil smirk. "You're lucky I had enough mercy to tell you _anything_ before I killed you. Now…let's do this the _right_ way." The Klingon hastily punched the Ensign's throat, knocking her to the ground and sending her into an uncontrollable coughing fit. Emily reached for her neck, touching it gingerly, and forced herself to attack 'Sulu' while she was still on the ground. She kicked across the floor, swiping the Klingon's feet out from underneath him, sending him to the floor and causing a loud bump. _E_prouv_e_ stood up quickly and groped for her phaser, drawing it out and rapidly setting it to the 'stun' setting.

The Tactical Officer aimed her phaser and fired, but 'Sulu' swiftly rolled out of the way and jumped up, kicking the gun across the hall. Emily cursed quietly as she tried to hit the back of the Klingon's neck, but had to quickly evade an attack with his weapon. This time the Ensign was able to get a better look at the Klingon's device, her face growing pale as she realized what exactly the mechanism was. She backed up, suddenly realizing that she was screwed. Emily didn't care if she was about to be killed, but what she _was_ concerned about was the fact that Kirk was unaware of three Klingons free on his starship that had every desire to massacre him. The Klingon disguised as Sulu sprung forward and wrapped his hands around the Ensign's neck, pushing her into a wall and tightening his grip as she tried to get away.

* * *

"Sickbay to Captain Kirk,"

Jim went back to his chair and pressed the switch for the intercom. "Kirk here." He replied cautiously, noticing that it was a woman's voice instead of McCoy's.

"Doctor McCoy wishes for you to report to sickbay immediately, Captain." Christine said to Kirk. "He says it's an emergency."

Kirk raised an eyebrow. "Am I speaking to Ms. Chapel?" The Captain asked, puzzled.

"I—yes, sir." Christine responded.

"Forgive me, Nurse, but…is McCoy aware that you're using the intercom?" Kirk interrogated, knowing that Christine was among the three ill officers who were apparently trying to reek havoc on the starship. The Captain was expecting a hostile response, so he was surprised when Nurse Chapel started laughing.

"Yes, sir, he is." Christine chuckled. "I suppose that you, like him, suspected I was ill?" She asked lightly. Kirk started to stammer some incomprehensible, broken phrases, so the nurse just ignored him and went on. "It was just a mix of stress and frustration, Captain. Sickbay has been rather busy for the past few days, and I'm sure you know how the doctor gets when he's annoyed. Sorry for worrying you." Ms. Chapel explained. "However, I must remind you that Dr. McCoy wishes to speak to you. It's urgent, sir, so if you could please hurry—"

"What's the emergency?" Kirk inquired, glad for the change of subject and embarrassed that he had mistaken an over-worked nurse for an insane one. He assumed that the other two officers must have been the same way, though now he didn't know who could have messed with the coordinates and stabilizers of _The Enterprise_.

"I'm not sure, Captain," Chapel admitted. "We have a lot of patients right now, and I'm tending to the less critically injured, he's working with the seriously wounded."

Kirk's face grew slightly paler. "All right, I'm on my way. Kirk out." The Captain told Nurse Chapel as he stood up quickly. "Mr. Spock, call me if there's any trouble." Jim said as he walked out the bridge, his First Officer acknowledging his command.

James T. Kirk rapidly strode down the hall to the elevator, very concerned as to why Leonard needed him at sickbay. Scotty had talked to him a few minutes ago, Emily was surely in the Engine Room by then, and the rest of his friends were on the bridge. Who else could be hurt?

Then he remembered. Just because Christine wasn't sick didn't mean the transporter officer and Sulu weren't. Kirk had absolutely no clue where Sulu's whereabouts were, nor the other officer. He groaned as he exited the elevator and jogged to sickbay. So many things could be wrong. Sulu's illness could have been fatal. They could have gotten hurt while the starship was rocking uncontrollably. He could have picked a fight with someone. Maybe that's what happened—Sulu picked a fight with someone, and _that_ officer was hurt. Perhaps worse. If that was the case, Sulu would have to be kept under restraint and surveillance.

The Captain arrived and hurried inside. However, he skidded to a halt the second he noticed something. Kirk looked from side to side numerous times, then took two small, cautious steps forward. He called the CMO's name, not seeing him in the room. Or, for that matter, anyone else. Sickbay was completely empty. The thirty injured crewmen and Doctor McCoy were no where to be found.

"Hello, Kirk." A mischievous feminine voice said from behind the Captain. Jim quickly spun around to face Nurse Chapel, who was leaning against the wall in a cat-like posture, her eyes narrow and her small, dark smile exposing only the edge of her teeth. The transporter officer was standing nearby, about to lock the entrance—and exit—to sickbay. It didn't take too long for the Captain to realize what was happening, so he lunged to the door to try for an escape. He shouted out for help as he did so, knowing that he wouldn't be able to get out before the exit shut, but maybe someone would hear him and know something was wrong. Kirk stopped short just before the door closed so he wouldn't be crushed. The Captain glared forward, jaw set and hands curled up into fists, his brow contracted in hushed anger.

"Where's Doctor McCoy?" James T. Kirk demanded quietly, facing the blocked exit. After his answer was nothing but the snickering of the two officers, Jim closed his eyes and sighed but didn't turn. "What do you want?" He mumbled, surrendering. It couldn't be helped—they had him cornered. Christine stood up straight and left her position at the wall to go closer to the Captain.

"Isn't it obvious?" Nurse Chapel laughed darkly. "We want _you_."

* * *

'Sulu' smiled, his upper lip curled above his sharp, yellowed teeth as his grasp on the young girl's throat intensified. _E_prouv_e_ stiffened, her already weak grip on the Klingon's arms grew more relaxed. She wasn't able to pull him off. The Ensign's lungs were never strong to begin with, what with all the coughing she did, but now she felt the dire need for oxygen more than ever as darkness started to eat its way into her vision. She could only see the green of the Klingon's eyes piercing through her, and everything else was black. She closed her eyes tightly, as a means of breaking the stare and as a final, futile act of desperation to escape.

He drew back one of his arms—the one with the weapon in it. 'Sulu' pressed a button on the mechanism down, his eyes still locked on the oxygen-starved _E_prouv_e_. He swung the device forward, putting it into contact with the Ensign's shoulder. The girl's eyes shot open as excruciatingly fierce pain spread throughout her body. Then, and only then, did the Klingon release his grip. _E_prouv_e_ gasped for the air she was deprived of as she fell to her knees, doubled over in anguish. It didn't last for too long, however. The Ensign soon fell to the side, having lost consciousness.

The Klingon disguised as Sulu smirked, his hands on his hips as he proudly stared down at the girl, noticing that her breathing had already begun to weaken. 'Sulu' shook his head and turned, moving to the direction of sickbay.

* * *

"Engineering to bridge," Montgomery said, trying to force the worry out of his voice.

"First Officer Spock here." Spock replied, sitting at Kirk's station while he was at sickbay for reasons still unknown to the Vulcan. He hoped for good news, since nothing particularly terrible had gone wrong recently and with the exception of the still-missing Sulu and transporter officer, everything on _The Enterprise_ was back to its correct state.

"Mr. Spock," Scotty started. "Captain Kirk informed me that he sent Ensign _E_prouv_e_ to lend me a hand. "I'm not really in need of assistance anymore, but I thought I let ye know that the lass hasn't shown up yet." The Engineer told the half-Vulcan. Spock raised an eyebrow.

"That is odd, she left the bridge thirteen minutes and twenty-three seconds ago," Spock said, puzzled. "It is very unlike Ms. _E_prouv_e_ to ignore her duties…if she is not in the engine room in five minutes, please inform the Captain or I and I shall have Lieutenant Uhura try to contact her. Thank you for informing me." Spock gave a disapproving look to the ship's navigator, who had turned around at the mention of Ms. _E_prouv_e_ and had a worried look on his face.

"Sure thing, sir." Scotty replied, still not entirely sure if waiting was a good idea. "Scott out."

The intercom disconnected and First Officer Spock stood up with a quiet sigh. He looked to Uhura, who looked a little concerned but not nearly as troubled as Chekov did.

"Do you think something may have happened to her?" The Ensign asked.

"It's possible." Spock said. "Doctor McCoy said there were thirty officers in sickbay, perhaps she is one of them. Then again, she has been known to be stubborn, and I doubt she would voluntarily see a doctor…" The First Officer trailed off, and the bridge was silent for a few moments. "The logical thing to do now is to wait for a response from Mr. Scott. Meanwhile, Ensign, please continue your duties and do not fret over the absent." He warned the Russian, who blushed and turned back to his station. Spock vaguely wondered why the Captain had not returned yet. Whatever was wrong in sickbay must have been very serious. He sighed to himself, hoping that there would not be any more issues.

* * *

Being unconscious wasn't so bad. There was no physical pain, everything was numb…it was just like being asleep. But Ensign _E_prouv_e_ had more important things to do than recover. Her Captain was in danger, and if she didn't wake herself up and warn him, he could be killed. No one else on the ship knew that there were intruders…or that they were disguised as real _Enterprise_ officers. Anyone could just walk by, thinking that they were passing Hikaru Sulu or Christine Chapel, and then realize that they were being attacked by Klingons. _'Come on, wake up, wake up, you useless wretch! Your friends are in danger! Wake up!'_ The Ensign said in her head. After a few minutes of forcing her will power to its maximum potential, Emily's eyes shot open and she was in even worse pain than before. She knew she should move slowly so as not to hurt herself, but there was no time for that. _E_prouv_e_ bolted up to a sitting position, holding back a scream and shaking with the effort of it.

"N-not fair…agonizers are… inhumane…that damned cheater…" _E_prouv_e_ whispered to herself as she slowly got up, deciding that moving fast would just make her pass out again. "Then again…he's not human…whether s-something's humane or not d-doesn't phase him…" She coughed violently, tenderly touching her bruised neck with one arm and holding onto the wall to keep herself stable with the other. She blinked her eyes a few times, trying to stop the hallway from spinning and clear up her vision a bit—bit it had no effect. _E_prouv_e_ hacked again, wincing from the exertion on her throat. She was very irritated—as if her neck hadn't been weak enough _before_ the fight, the damned Klingon goes and attacks her weak spot. Not cool! The young girl staggered toward the intercom, wiping some blood away from her mouth and putting all of her weight against the wall. The Ensign flipped a switch on the intercom, but waited a few seconds before speaking to catch her breath.

"Ep…_E_prouv_e_—to bridge…"Emily choked out, coughing in between words. She clutched her side, using her best efforts to remain standing while she talked to Captain Kirk. If only it was Kirk who responded.

"Spock here," The First Officer replied. It wasn't unusual for the Ensign to be coughing, but Spock noticed the unusual sense of pain in her voice. "Ms. _E_prouv_e_, Captain Kirk sent you to the engine room seventeen minutes and four seconds ago, would you please explain why you are not there?" The Vulcan asked. Chekov and Uhura turned to watch Spock, both concerned about the girl.

Emily's eyes widened. "_Spock!_" She muttered. "Oh, God…wh-where's Jim…?" The Ensign stammered, horrified that her Captain wasn't on the bridge. Spock raised an eyebrow and exchanged glances with the ship's navigator.

"Ms. Chapel called him to sickbay, I suspect he's there now, but that was not what I asked you, Ensign—"

For the first time in her life, the Starfleet officer interrupted her superior. "N-no! Shit…S-Spock, please…tell me he—" _E_prouve coughed fiercely, almost losing her balance again as her vision became more distorted. "He didn't…go by himself, d-did he…? You sent some…someone with him, right…?" The young girl pleaded weakly.

Pavel rose from his seat, eyes on the First Officer. "Something's not right." Chekov stated. Uhura nodded in agreement, but Spock gave them dismissive looks.

"No, the Captain went by alone." The Vulcan affirmed. "Why, what's the matter?"

_E_prouv_e_ went pale. "Oh my God." She stammered weakly. "Spock, have you l-lost your mind…? Y-you knew Chris—" The Ensign broke off, entering another coughing fit, but she struggled to continue speaking—she still needed to tell the Science Officer what was happening. "You knew Christine… was one of… the three officers…Kirk could be…d-dead by now…!"

Spock's brow lifted in surprise. _E_prouv_e_ had never been disrespectful to him before. He knew something significantly critical was amiss. "Emily," Spock repeated, more urgently this time. "_What is the matter?"_

"Th-there are intruders, sir…!" The teen managed to choke out, sliding to her knees but refusing to lose consciousness again. She took a second or so to rest, breathing heavily. "The three officers…that everyone thought w-were sick…they're Kling…Klingons…They m-must have had surgery…to change their…a-a-appearances." _E_prouv_e_ explained, voice slowly growing quieter. She was doubled-over in pain, her jaw clenched to keep her from shouting out in torment. Stupid agonizer.

"_What?!_" Spock hissed, letting his shock show for once. Emily drew in a quick, painful breath before she went on.

"Y-You can see for yourself…the one that…looks like Sulu…has green eyes…instead of black." The Ensign stuttered. "Th-they're trying to kill—" Emily coughed, her voice barely even a whisper at that point. "_They're after Captain Kirk!"_


	6. Old Enemies

**Disclaimer: I don't own Star Trek. I wish I did, but I don't. Nor do I know who _does_ own Star Trek. But it sure is not me.**

**Warning: Uber Violence. Maybe some language. Hints of Spock/Uhura and Chekov/Eprouve.**

**Notes: Second to last chapter. Sorry it took so long, I've been a bit...preoccupied. First Star Trek Story. Constructive Criticism and random reviews are both very much appreciated.**

* * *

"Ensign…? Emily?" Spock demanded urgently, not showing any emotion on his face nor in his tone though clearly alarmed. He switched off the intercom and stood up at the same time Chekov made a break for the exit. Spock quickly intervened, much to the Russian's dismay.

"Sir," Chekov reasoned desperately. "You heard her, she must be badly hurt—"

"I am very much aware of the danger our Tactical Officer is in, Mr. Chekov." Spock interrupted. "However, I need your assistance in rescuing our Captain first. It is our duty as Starfleet officers…saving Captain Kirk is more important at present." The First Officer explained somewhat sympathetically. At first Chekov looked disgusted with the science officer, then he scowled, trying to think of any good reason to help _E_prouv_e_ first. His glare faded to a frown as he realized that Spock was right.

"Aye, Mr. Spock." Chekov said quietly. He called back over his shoulder, "Have Mr. Reilly cover for me."

"Lieutenant Uhura, contact Mr. Scott to take command. Please inform him of our present situation. Also, send security down to sickbay for backup." Spock ordered Nyota who acknowledged his wish.

"Be careful, Spock." Uhura whispered wistfully as she watched the Science Officer and the navigator left the bridge.

* * *

Kirk backed up slowly, colliding into a wall as the transporter officer held a long, sharp knife out pointed toward the Captain. "You want me. What, no explanation?" Kirk asked almost sarcastically, trying to buy some time. The transporter officer smirked, revealing a sinister set of darkened sharp teeth, but Christine just rolled her eyes and watched her partner attempt to stab Kirk. Jim quickly dove out of the way, narrowly escaping the weapon.

"This is mutiny!" The Captain shouted, exasperated. The two officers exchanged glances, then burst out laughing, making Kirk flush. What did he say?

"You…" Christine choked out between laughs, a mocking smile on her face. "You still think we're your officers? You still think we're _humans_? I knew you weren't a very _intelligent_ race, but I highly overestimated you!"

Kirk's eyes narrowed as he grinded his jaw and formed his hand into a fist position, slowing getting angrier as they continued to laugh. Just then, someone pounded on sickbay's doors and the two fell silent. The man strode over to the entrance and checked the screen to make sure it wasn't a Starfleet officer, then opened the doors. 'Sulu' walked in, looking a bit irritated.

"A'rakih!" The woman hissed at Sulu. "Where have you _been_!? We've been waiting _forever!_" Jim's eyes widened as he heard the strange name. He knew exactly what language it was.

A'rakih rolled his eyes as the other man closed the entrance before Kirk could escape. "Calm down, Lepahc. I just had a little…interruption." He said mischievously. Lepahc raised an eyebrow, standing slightly crooked, which made her seem all the more ghastly.

"An interruption?"

"No big deal," A'rakih said with a shrug. "That stupid little Ensign girl…the one with the cough, she figured out what we were and tried to stop me." He reached downward and pulled out his agonizer. "No worries, I took care of her. She won't be any trouble now." He chuckled, caressing his weapon, his dark green eyes piercing through the Captain's soul. "Really should have made my eyes black…oh, well."

Kirk growled ferociously. "What have you done to Emily?" He demanded. "Where's Doctor McCoy and the injured officers!?" Lepahc scowled and punched the Captain's right temple, knocking him to the ground. He reeled dizzily as she turned him over and put her foot on his chest, applying just enough pressure to snap three of his ribs. He let out a short cry of pain and automatically tried to get away, to put some distance between them, but he couldn't move. Lepahc and the others laughed maniacally.

"Calm down, Kirk." The Klingon woman said, watching the pathetic Captain wince. "Your precious little McCoy and all of his little patients are all alive…for now." The evil smirk inched its way back onto her face.

"What do you want with me?" Jim choked out as Lepahc removed her foot. He very slowly started to get up, a little out of breath already. This wasn't going to be easy.

"What do we want with you?" A'rakih repeated uncomprehendingly. "Surely you've realized by now?" When he received no answer from the Captain, he rolled his eyes at the pitiful man. "Our friend over there," He motioned toward the Klingon disguised as a transporter officer. "His name is Reltseok—" He stopped speaking when he saw Kirk freeze, shock clear on his face. "Hah, you recognize the name?"

Kirk sighed, now completely standing up, though slightly hunched over to soften the pain in his chest. "Look, I told you I was sorry, it was a long time ago. I was young and inexperienced, and it was an accident—"

"An accident?!" Reltseok snapped furiously. "Alright then, I'll just accidentally kill that doctor and his patients. I'll just accidentally have you there to watch. Then I'll accidentally seize control of _The Enterprise_ and accidentally destroy every Starfleet vessel we find, then I'll accidentally—"

"I get the point," Kirk interjected.

"You murdered twelve of my men without reason," Reltseok accused, brow contracted in fury. The amused looks on all three of the Klingons were now completely replaced with looks of rage.

"What does it matter to you?" The Captain retorted. "You Klingons kill each other all the time. I bet you didn't even know their names." Lepahc let out an infuriated scream as she punched Kirk's neck. He gasped, then winced from the pain of his chest, and fell back to the floor. He cringed as he slowly stood up, his back facing the Klingons. Kirk took two seconds to try to catch his breath without making his broken ribs puncture his lungs. Reltseok lunged forward, his knife sliding into the Captain's back. Jim drew in a quick breath, and staggered to the floor. He tried to push himself back up, but it was no use. Darkness surrounded him as he heard the sound of phasers.

* * *

"It's no use, sir, it won't open!" Chekov said as he tried to override the entrance to sickbay. "They must have reset the codes—"

"Alright. Aim your phaser at the door and try to break through." Spock said as he reached for his own phaser. Chekov followed the First Officer's orders, pulling out his phaser and holding it out toward sickbay as five security personnel came running toward them to help. The Vulcan and the Russian fired their weapons at the entrance, creating a steady laser beam until the door was no longer in existence. The officers broke through just in time to see their Captain fall, a dagger protruding out of his upper left back. Spock and the security team immediately froze in there place.

"Captain!" Chekov gasped as he skidded to a stop. The three Klingons simultaneously turned to see their intruders. A'rakih scowled the moment he saw the overly observant navigator, unintentionally locking eyes with him. Pavel now saw that the eyes of this 'Sulu' were most definitely a jade green, and not their normal jet black. "Shoot," The Russian whispered to Spock. "Ms. _E_prouv_e_ was right."

The First Officer only nodded, barely paying attention. His mind was focused on his fallen friend. The half-Vulcan quickly realized that Doctor McCoy and his patients were missing, causing him even greater concern. Spock intended to question the Klingons—he knew what they were as they had begun speaking to each other in their language—however, he was not able to, since whatever they had been talking about must have been a plan, and the three imposters wasted no time in attacking the Federation officers.

Lepahc had thrown herself into one of the security personnel, beating him senseless with her bare hands as Reltseok pulled his dagger from Kirk's limp body. The Starfleet officers rapidly set their phasers to the stun setting, but the Klingons were purposely using random, unpredictable movements so as not to be hit. A'rakih jabbed his agonizer into another one of the redshirts, who let out a booming cry then collapsed immediately. Chekov got a little frightened at that point—he had been hit by an agonizer before and _never_ wanted to repeat the experience. The three remaining security helped to pull Lepahc off of the other officer, and then one of them managed to knock her unconscious with their phaser.

Reltseok roared with fury, throwing his knife straight at Spock, who was busy trying to think of a way to save the Captain and McCoy. Chekov managed to push the First Officer out of the way in time to avoid a fatal blow, but the dagger still managed to stab into the Vulcan's arm. Spock backed up into a wall while he gently took out the knife, trying not to show that he was in pain.

"Mr. Spock!" Pavel breathed, swiftly sliding toward the First Officer and helping him to remain standing. A'rakih laughed when he saw the green stain on the Science Officer's sleeve, only to be cut off by the Ensign firing his phaser at him. It was tough for Chekov to do, since the Klingon was disguised as Sulu, but he was able to remind himself that it was not really the helmsman. With A'rakih and Lepahc both unconscious, the only intruder left was Reltseok, who was standing tall, ready to take on the Russian and three remaining security officers.

The Klingon launched himself onto a redshirt in the same fashion that Lepahc had attempted, starting to beat the security officer senseless until Chekov was able to stun him. Reltseok tottered, then fell to the ground in a slump. The Navigator gave a small, proud smirk. Not only was he conscious for the whole battle, but he had managed to knock out two of the intruders _and_ save the First Officer from certain death. Definitely something to write home about. Spock raised an eyebrow, staring at the fallen Klingons.

"Well done, Mr. Chekov," The Vulcan said. "Now, security…escort our guests to the holding cell, and send a team of medical officers to sickbay, please." Spock was already walking toward his Captain. The three officers acknowledged and quickly left with the Klingons, one intruder per security officer. First Officer Spock kneeled down beside Kirk, gently picking him up and pacing him onto one of the beds. Kirk grimaced from pain in his sleep, and Spock noticed how pale he was. The Captain had already lost a lot of blood and had a thin film of sweat all over him, breathing weakly due to what Spock assumed were cracked ribs.

"Mr. Spock," Chekov began, watching in controlled horror but focusing his mind at the more important problems at hand. "Should I organize a search group to find Doctor McCoy, Mr. Sulu, Ms. Chapel, and the others?"

Spock stayed silent for a few moments, thinking of what to do, then he shook his head. "No, I think it would be most logical if I did it," The First Officer said, swallowing hard. "You should take care of Captain Kirk and the other injured officers…and I believe Ms. _E_prouv_e_ is most likely in need of assistance as well."

Chekov nodded, looking to one of the security guards sprawled on the floor. "Aye, sir." The Russian murmured with a sad smile. The Vulcan swiftly turned and left for the bridge, leaving Chekov alone with two unconscious crewmen and one Captain that was bleeding to death. For a minute or two, Pavel just blinked, not sure what to do first under the pressure.

* * *

"Mr. Spock! Oh, no, where's Mr. Chekov and Captain Kirk?" Uhura said, her eyes widening as the First Officer returned solo. "Please don't tell me—" The Lieutenant gasped as she stood up. "Spock, you're hurt! What's happened?"

"Mr. Chekov is alright, Lieutenant." Spock replied. "The Captain is badly hurt, but if he is helped quickly he should be fine. I fear Ms. _E_prouv_e_ was correct, the three officers we believed to be ill are Klingon intruders. We have them in custody, however a search team must be organized to find Doctor McCoy and the real Sulu, Chapel, and Koestler—" It seemed that the Vulcan was the only member of the crew who actually knew the transporter officer's name; Uhura looked confused for a moment but then realized who Spock was talking about.

"Yes, sir, I'll put together a search party right away—you should sit down, Spock, your arm—"

Spock ignored Nyota, turning to the third-in-command Scotsman. "Have there been any more problems, Mr. Scott?" The Vulcan asked the terror-stricken engineer.

"I—negative, sir. Forgive me, but did you say the three officers are _Klingon intruders?_" Scotty said as he rose from the Captain's chair so Spock could sit. The first officer nodded, his mouth dry and cottony, the wound on his arm festering an ungodly lime color. His head reeled and it took all of his restraint to keep from showing his pain.

"Yes. It would be logical to assume that they boarded the _Enterprise_ before or while we were orbiting Vulcan." Spock said, taking his place in the Captain's chair. "Ms. Uhura—"

"Everyone is ready, Mr. Spock." The Communications officer assured before the Vulcan could finish his question. "I have twenty officers trying to find Dr. McCoy and the others, and Mr. Scott will join them; there's no need to worry."

For once Spock did not pull his usual 'Worry is a human emotion' line. He simply nodded and leaned back slightly, closing his eyes in pain. Scott drew a short breath in alarm. "Are you alright, sir? Do ye want me to take ye down to sickbay, perhaps?" Scotty asked quietly.

"No thank you, Mr. Scott," Spock replied. "I'm needed here on the bridge, and our missing crew members are out top priority at the moment."

Worry was a human emotion. Spock knew this, and had grown to follow the rules of controlling any and all emotions that crept their way into his mind. Yet still as the Vulcan considered what may have become of Sulu, of Christine and Koestler, of the injured officers, and of his friend—Doctor Leonard McCoy…

Well, worry seemed like an appropriate and logical feeling for the moment.


	7. The Search

**Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek or the characters. Except for my OC.**

**Warnings: Spock/Uhura, Chekov/Eprouve. .............mild mention of a nude Sulu. xD!! Second to last chapter. Really this time.**

**Notes: I'm...so sorry this took so long D: my Star Trek phase ended, so I wanted to work on everything *but* this. I'll try to add the ending soon. Please R&R. Enjoy.**

* * *

It didn't take long to find Sulu and Koestler. In fact, a member of the search crew found them in the first place she looked: Sulu's courters. They were hurt, but not badly. The transporter officer's wrist was bent into an acute angle, and there was dried blood on his face that most likely originated from his now crooked nose. The helmsman didn't look as bad—there was desiccated crimson liquid caked onto his hair, indicating that he may have had a concussion, and midnight blue shadows over his eyes supported that possibility. Both officers were unconscious, bound together, and (much to the search party's disgust and embarrassment) missing their uniforms. The female searchers turned a violet red and, with their heads hung low and eyes glued to the floor, swiftly made their escape to search for the other missing officers, making it a point to find Christine before the males did, and left the men with Koestler and Sulu.

"Scott to bridge," The engineer said, holding down the button on the intercom while the men rummaged through Sulu's closet to find some clothes for him and Koestler.

"Spock here,"

"We found Sulu and Koestler, sir. They're alive, but they aren't conscious," Scotty reported, making sure to stare directly at the intercom so as to not accidentally see the officers. He shook his head, revolted.

"Very good. Please take them to sickbay and continue your search. Spock out."

The intercom disconnected. Scotty sighed, "Tha man works himself too hard," He turned around and saw that Sulu and Koestler were now fully-clothed and unbound, and were already being lifted to be taken to sickbay. While they were being handled carefully, the new movement and positions irritated both of the injured crewmen, making Koestler grimace in his sleep and Sulu gasp. The officers that were lifting them all suddenly had worried looks on their faces, biting their lips and eyes widening. Scotty sighed and looked away as they were carried out of the room.

"Mr. Scott, sir!"

The Engineer swiftly exited Sulu's courters and stepped into the hallway to see who called him. There were four women at the end of the hall, standing outside an opened door, one facing Scott and the other three facing the room. The woman who was facing him went closer at the same time that he did, meeting him half way between Sulu's courters and the opened room. Scotty now saw that the woman couldn't have been much older than twenty-one, and was only an ensign that had joined the crew the week before.

"Nurse Chapel was in her room, she's unconscious too." The woman said. "Shall I contact the bridge, or would you rather do it?"

"Aye, lass, ye can call Mr. Spock, and have the nurse be taken te sickbay." Scotty replied softly, knowing that it must have been frightening for this new officer to have so many problems on one of her first days. "An' if ye don't mind, I best be headed to sickbay as well, te see if there's nothin' that Chekov lad canna help me with."

The woman at first stared uncomprehendingly, as if trying to decipher what the Engineer had said. Scotty exhaled forcefully and looked up; he wasn't going to bother repeating himself, his voice would sound exactly the same. He couldn't help it that his brogue got thicker when he was worried. The woman then apparently figured out what he had said and smiled.

"Yes, sir. Thank you."

Montgomery watched as she cheerfully flipped the switch on the intercom and called Spock, getting nervous and rigid when he answered. The woman updated Spock and after he thanked her and disconnected she giggled girlishly.

Scott rolled his eyes, turned toward the direction of sickbay, and began walking. They were lucky that they were able to find Sulu, Christine and Koestler so quickly, and he knew that finding the other crewmen probably wouldn't be so easy. The Klingons wouldn't try to find the courters of every single injured officer that was in sickbay, and Scott had already checked McCoy's room, which was completely empty. They'd need to search the whole ship before finding the still-missing crewmen, and since Chekov wasn't a doctor, he'd be more of a help looking for McCoy and the others than crowding the sickbay. Scott passed some of the search team members returning from dropping off Sulu and Koestler.

After a little while, the Engineer arrived at sickbay. He reluctantly paused before entering, took a deep breath, and took one step closer so the doors would slide open. Eyes half closed, Scotty strode inside, biting his lip in hopes that things weren't as bad as they seemed. He slowly opened his eyes and surveyed the scene.

The helmsman was laid out on the far right, being tended to by two medical officers. His head was covered in ruby gauze and his heart rate was dangerously low. Next to him was the transporter officer, with four medical officers surrounding him, two attempting to set his wrist bone, one sheepishly poking at his broken nose, and the other one staring at the heart monitor, which, like Sulu's, showed that his BPM was very low.

In the middle of sickbay laid two unconscious security guards, both seemingly fine except for a few scratches and bruises, maybe a broken finger or two, their heart rates fine and their skin rosy. No nurses were with them, as it seemed they would awaken soon.

To the far left were two other officers, both of them catching Scott's eye. The first officer was shirtless, just wrapped up in wet crimson gauze, though there was a tattered gold uniform on the floor next to him, torn in several places and stained dark red. The Captain was covered in sweat and blood and appeared to be in pain. His heart rate was significantly low, though not as low as Sulu or Koestler. There were several medical officers near him, three directly helping him and the others discussing what they should do. Scotty looked at Kirk's pale, agonized face and suddenly longed for Doctor McCoy.

The last victim was on the left side of Kirk, and she was sporting a familiar red shirt. Scott groaned to himself. It was always the crew in _his_ department that got hurt. Always. The girl was also knocked out, though aside from large dark bruises on her throat, she didn't look that badly. Her heart was beating rather slowly, but that was normal for _E_prouv_e_. Scott frowned upon seeing her. She was probably only still unconscious because she had pushed herself too hard when she was hurt and used up all her strength, that and the fact that bruises on someone's neck usually indicate that they were _choked_, and Emily's lungs were weak enough already, let alone being cut off from air for who-knows-how-long. The Engineer stepped closer to her. He had never even seen her shut her eyes, let alone be in a mini-coma. It made him a little sad.

"Everything alright, Mr. Scott?" A nurse questioned.

Scotty cleared his throat. "I'm lookin' for Mr. Chekov. Is tha lad still here?"

There was a loud thud from the back of the room, and then a long, angry string of Russian. Chekov's upper body fell to the floor from underneath a station, his hands pressed against the top of his head. He swore, then he pulled the rest of him out from under the desk along with a box of medical supplies, and the Ensign stood up, still holding his head.

"Ouch. That hurt. Wery much." Chekov pouted as he slid the medical supplies over to one of the nurses near Kirk. Scotty smiled, amused.

"Hit yer head, lad?"

Pavel scowled. "What do you want?"

"We could use more people to find Doctor McCoy and the other officers," Scotty explained as the Russian stepped closer. "Would ye mind lending us a hand?"

Chekov bit his lip, unsure. "Well, I don't know…" Scotty saw his eyes stray over to Sulu, then to _E_prouv_e_.

"Go on, Ensign. They'll be fine without you." The temporary CMO assured Pavel, who turned a light pink.

Scotty sighed. "Come on, lad. Ye best be going anyways, ye will lose yer mind stayin' in sickbay all day." He said sympathetically. After hearing that, most of the medical staff glared disapprovingly at the Engineer. He smiled, embarrassed, and backed up sheepishly.

"If you say so," Chekov said with a shrug, walking out of the sickbay and waiting for Scotty in the hall. Scott turned to leave, then changed his mind and pivoted to face the medical officers.

"By the way," The Engineer started. "Mister Spock is on the bridge practically bleedin' te death, but he refuses to leave his post. Would ye mind sendin' someone there and bandagin' him up?"

Someone blinked. "Yes, sir. Right away."

"Thanks, lass."

Scotty exited sickbay with a sigh. "Well, tha was downright depressing." He said to Chekov, who was leaning against the wall. The Ensign stood up straight and began walking with Scott.

"Aye, sir, it was." Pavel agreed, eyes glued to the ground. Scott frowned, and gave Chekov a pat on the back.

"Ye did well, lad."

The Russian smiled sadly, still staring towards the ground. "Thank you, sir."

* * *

Spock sat at the Captain's chair, staring forward at the substitute navigator and replacement helmsman. Uhura was standing next to him, worried that he would pass out from blood loss—which, Spock thought, was very likely. Sure, he wasn't stabbed in any critical organs, but the knife in his arm _did_ cut deeply and _was_ still bleeding fountains of green. He was getting dizzy, the sides of his vision becoming blurred, the rest of his sight spinning in uncontrollable twists as the bridge was getting darker…

"Mr. Spock! Sir, are you alright?" Uhura's voice cut into the Vulcan's mind.

Spock leaned back, taking a deep breath. That was a hard question to answer. He wasn't quite sure how he was feeling. Thinking rationally wasn't easy at the moment with the buzzing in his head.

"Permission to speak freely, Mr. Spock?" Nyota asked the Vulcan.

"I welcome it." He replied quietly.

"You're being an idiot. A very stubborn, dying idiot."

Spock opened his eyes and stared at the communications officer, shocked. No, perplexed. Shock was a human emotion, of course…Spock began to stammer something to her, even he wasn't quite sure what it was, a mix of an apology, and explanation, and a question, but he cut himself off since his words were pretty much incomprehensible. The Vulcan took a deep breath to compose himself, trying to think clearly to decide what to say. "_Dying_ is a bit of an ex…agger…ation, Lieu…tenant."

"Exaggeration? If you can't see how pale you are then listen to yourself. You can barely talk." Uhura retorted, taking notice at how much trouble Spock was having getting that last sentence out. He seemed to be getting worse…though that was expected. He was losing blood, not gaining it. "Sir, you are remaining on the bridge because you feel that you are responsible for it at the moment, correct?" Nyota waited for some acknowledgement, but there was none, so she went on, "You always make your decisions based on logic. Do you honestly think its _logical_ to stay at your post even though you can barely stay awake, Mr. Scott could take your place, and we aren't even having any critical problems?" Spock raised an eyebrow, and Uhura corrected herself. "Well, problems that don't involve the crew. Er, problems that aren't being taken care of by someone other than yourself." Uhura asked, rephrasing herself several times. "I'm sure some medical officers could fix your arm very quickly, and you'd be ready for duty again in no time…and it probably would have been even faster if you had gone _ten minutes_ ago—"

"That's quite enough…Lieutenant." Spock interrupted.

"I'm sorry, sir, but you know it is the truth." Uhura said, looking to the First Officer's bloody arm and then staring at the floor.

"Ms. Uhura is right," Broke in a new voice. Spock and Nyota turned to see who was speaking. A man clad in a blue shirt entered the bridge, his medical supplies with him. The Medical Officer gave Spock a look that was a mix of disparagement and horror. "Commander Spock, sir, we all appreciate your devotion to your duties, but _this_ is a little…"

"Ridiculous?" Uhura suggested.

"Er, yes." The Medical Officer cleared his throat and went by Spock, opening up his bag of supplies. "This should only take a moment, sir, though I should give you something for the blood loss…"

Spock tuned them out and let the medical officer do his job. Ignoring anyone—let alone fellow Starfleet officers—was not something that he had ever even considered doing. It was both disrespectful and illogical…yet, he found that not listening to Uhura or the medical officer was, at the moment, involuntary. He closed his eyes, the dizziness starting to fade away as the MO worked to heal his injury.

* * *

"It's useless…we'll never find them!" Chekov groaned, stopping in the middle of the hall, the Engineer a few feet ahead of him.

"Hushup, lad." Scott replied quietly. "Don't talk like tha'. We'll find Mr. McCoy and the others soon enough."

"We've searched half the ship. Not including what the _rest_ of the search crew has covered."

"Well, then, we'll just have te search the rest of her." Montgomery replied flatly. The Russian sighed and leaned against the wall in a slump of defeat. He accidentally brushed against a keypad, which started to blink and beep. Chekov backed away quickly as a hidden door slid open, revealing a large, pitch-black room. Pavel stared uncomprehendingly while Scott slowly inched his way back to the navigator, his eyes also locked on the room. The Engineer turned toward Chekov, one eyebrow raised.

"What is it, sir?" The Ensign questioned.

Montgomery looked back at the door. "It's only an extra storage room, in case we ever needed to deliver some cargo." He explained. "We've never used it before, and to be frank I forgot it existed." Scott laughed nervously. "The entrance works like camouflage incase of piracy, so it is a wee bit…hard to notice."

"Ah. I see." Chekov said. The two exchanged glances, then gave each other a nod and stepped forward into the storage area. The darkness closed in around both of them, neither of the two officers able to see. Scott felt around for a light switch (since it was only meant for storage, the room had not been given an updated lighting system with the rest of the ship) while the Russian moved forward. His foot caught something and he fell forward, face-first onto the floor with a yelp. Chekov groaned as he rolled away from the object that made him trip.

"Good heavens, lad," Scott said, exasperated. "Are ye alright? What was tha'?"

The Ensign muttered something in Russian, standing up as Scott finally was able to activate the lights. The fierce brightness forced the two officers to blink their eyes a few times in order to adjust to the new light, and when they were finally able to see, the scene made them both gasp in horror.

Chekov had not tripped on an object. He had tripped on a person.

Mouths agape, the two Enterprise crewmen surveyed the scene. Scattered across the floor were human bodies, all clad in Starfleet uniforms, some injured badly, some only mildly hurt, and others seemingly fine. They were all unconscious. All of the missing officers, including Bones, was present and accounted for.

Scott and Chekov slowly and rigidly faced each other, both terror-stricken, then burst into a sprint out of the storage room. They quickly ran to an intercom and flipped the switch together.

* * *

"Scott—"

"And Chekov!"

"—to bridge!"

Uhura looked toward the Captain's chair to watch Spock respond to the crewmen. The medical officer had left, Spock's arm healed and blood loss effects under control. Spock pressed a button and took a breath, one eyebrow raised in perplexity at Scott and Chekov.

"First Officer Spock here." He said into the intercom. There was a pause.

"Ah, we've located the remainder of the missing officers, sir." Scott said. "They _seem_ fine, but they're knocked out, so we're a bit uncertain."

"Alright," Spock replied clearly. "Escort them to sickbay, then have the search team return to their previous duties."

"Aye, sir!" The Scotsman and the Russian said in unison. The intercom disconnected, and a few seconds later an announcement was made for all members of the search crew to report to the extra storage room. Uhura sighed good-naturedly as she turned back to her work and away from the Vulcan.


	8. Shadow Tonic

**Disclaimer: I don't own Star Trek. Sadly.**

**Warnings: There's more cursing in this one. Spochura. Chekov/Eprouve. Same stuff.**

**Author's note: Well, here it is, the final chapter to my first fanfiction. I'd like to thank all of my readers and reviewers. Now, please hear me out when I say this: Please read my other stories. I haven't started them yet, but as I now know more about TOS my writing has become better...and I have realized how much my OC sucks. In the next fanfic, dear Eprouve will be older, have a specific job, and stick to it. Give me a second chance? Please? :D R&R would be amazing. I hope you liked this story. Please enjoy chapter eight of Fake Out.**

**Story-related notes: There can be male nurses. It's not a typo. He's a he. Oh, and when you see a "*" (asterisk), please play climatic background music in your head. You'll see what I mean. :D**

* * *

_E_prouv_e_'s eyes slowly opened. Still in a fog, she sat up with a groan and looked around. The first thing she saw was an unconscious James Kirk. The Ensign let out a quiet gasp. A medical officer hurried over to her to prevent her from getting up, holding the girl's shoulder and gently pushing her back down onto the bed.

"Mind telling me what the hell just happened?" _E_prouve said, a slight hint of panic in her raspy voice. The nurse stared at her uncomprehendingly.

"You…don't remember?" The medical officer asked, eyes filled with question. Emily shook her head, and the nurse sighed. "Klingons came onto our ship, disguised as Mr. Sulu, Mr. Koestler, and Ms. Chapel, and conspired to kill Captain Kirk and take over _The Enterprise_. The one disguised as Sulu attacked you."

The Ensign blinked, then blew a strand of hair away from her face out of annoyance. "Brilliant." She stated simply. The nurse chuckled quietly. "I suppose I need to interrogate them?" Emily asked.

"Well, yes," The Medical Officer said. "But _not_ until we're sure that you're fully recovered—"

"I'm fine. Better than ever." _E_prouv_e_ interrupted, sitting up again and looking around the room. There were a lot of knocked out officers that she didn't know, and Sulu and Christine and Kirk and…McCoy? The Ensign pointed to the CMO. "What happened to _him_?" In all honesty, Dr. McCoy usually was never put into situations that he could get hurt. At least, not while on the starship.

The nurse shrugged. "That's what we need _you_ to find out. Now, if you'll let me just run some tests, the sooner we get you out of here, the better."

Emily groaned quietly and let the officer do his thing. He checked her heart rate and breathing, then shook his head. "I don't understand. With the exception of you, Captain Kirk, and those security officers," He motioned to the guards that had helped Chekov and Spock in rescuing the Captain. "The pulses of all of the personnel that were knocked unconscious are extraordinarily low. Almost bad enough to call it the beginning of heart failure."

_E_prouve sat up a little straighter, becoming rigid and tense.

"Sorry, didn't mean to worry you. I'm sure they'll be fine, it's just…while you're interrogating the Klingons, if you could find out exactly what they _did_ to knock them out, that'd make it easier for us to help."

The ensign nodded as the nurse finished. "Alright, Ensign, you're clear to—Ensign!" It was too late, _E_prouv_e_ had already bolted out the door to go to her post. The Medical Officer groaned good-naturedly and went back to tending Captain Kirk.

After a long and futile interrogational session, _E_prouve left the interrogation room and stepped out into the hall, ensuring that the three Klingons were still inside the room. She sighed quietly, knowing that her jobs wasn't finished until she had the information that sickbay desperately needed. The Ensign turned on the intercom, making the first of her mandatory progress reports.

"Interrogation to bridge," The officer said nonchalantly as she leaned against the wall, coughing quietly.

* * *

----------

The whistle rang through the bridge, and the half-Vulcan turned on the intercom instantaneously. He didn't see that Chekov and Uhura had actually stopped what they were doing and looked over, unsettled hope in their tired eyes.

"Spock here. Has the proper information been acquired from the intruders?" The First Officer asked, a little too fast. Emily smiled to herself. That was plain old human worry for his best friends shining through.

"Negative, sir." _E_prouve responded glumly. "So far the only info that I've managed to get from them is irrelevant to the sickbay situation, though with this information I've concluded that these three were _not_ under the orders of anyone in particular, and simply broke away from the group in order to plot their own personal revenge on our Captain and become heroes in the Klingon society…from what I've put together, no other members of their race were aware of their little expedition. They were, put simply, being mischievous. I could, as always, be wrong, though I doubt it. Like I said, it isn't very helpful…"

"Any information or conclusion that prevents a state of warfare is not irrelevant, Ensign. Deciding whether or not our intruders were an act of a declaration of war and preventing it were our top priorities." Spock corrected reassuringly.

Examining the emerald stains on the bandages around his arm, the First Officer briefly let his mind wander to sickbay, where Dr. McCoy and Captain Kirk were still unconscious.

"You have done well today, Ms. _E_prouve. If you had not informed me of your discovery concerning the Klingons, it is logical to assume that the entire crew may have been captured or killed."

"_Me?_" The Ensign said in disbelief. "Yeah, sure. Whatever you sa—" A loud crash cut the girl off. "_Shit!_" She muttered.

Chekov's eyes widened in alarm.

"Emily, is everything alright?" Spock asked urgently, yet still managing to remain calm. There was a few seconds of silence.

"Er…yes, sir." _E_prouve replied. "Everything's under control, really! _E_prouve out."

More silence. Spock reluctantly exchanged glances with Uhura and Chekov, then shook his head distastefully and went back to work.

* * *

---

For once, everything really _was_ under control. Mostly. With the exception of the prisoners attempting (almost successfully) to tear down the door and escape. Loud crashes and knocks and bangs could be heard from the room. _E_prouve rolled her eyes and coughed, then stepped over to the interrogation room and prepared herself for whatever was to come. The door slid open and, without even looking to see if someone was there, kicked high into what should have been the air but was Reltseok's head. Emily smiled. as the Klingons all froze.

"Would anyone else like to try to escape again? Or are you just gonna take the beating like real men? Eh—rather, Klingons?" Lepahc tensed after the Ensign's correction.

"You know you're not going to get anything from us." Lepach grumbled defiantly.

"You know you're wrong." Emily countered.

"Your retorts are futile." said the female warrior, growing more tense.

"Your retorts are futile." mimicked _E_prouve.

"Feh. _Humans._"

"Psh. _Klingons._"

"You may talk all you wish to, if you want any information from us you'll need a whole lot more than just an immature Earth girl." Lepach said, irritation obvious in her voice.

"You may talk all you wish to, if you want to leave this room you'll need a whole lot more than just three weak, devious Klingons."

"Stop that."

"No, _you_ stop it."

"Foolish girl!"

"Foolish ridge-face!"

"A'rakih! Why in the universe didn't you use htaedozine on _her_ while you had the chance? Now we're stuck here with the most annoying kid in Starfleet—" Lepach growled angrily to the Sulu-imposter before cutting herself off.

_E_prouve smiled. A dark and wily smile. "You Klingons really do need to get a lesson on tolerance."

"Lepach! _You fool_!" Reltseok shouted. Lepach froze, then cursed in Klingon. The officer stepped out of the room again, leaving the intruders to fight amongst themselves. Emily flipped a switch on the intercom. '_I love confusing people…'_

"Interrogation to security."

There was a short silence broken by a security officer. "Yes, Ensign?"

"If you would be so kind as to send a few officers down and escort our intruders back to the brig?"

"Acknowledged." He replied mechanically. "Out."

The Starfleet officer sighed and walked away from the intercom with a quiet cough. She looked back at the room, then turned and started running to sickbay.

* * *

---

Kirk practically bolted upright the instant he gained consciousness. An acute pain seared through his body, he gasped loudly and laid back down, trembling. He grimaced, looking up to see a medical officer standing over him.

"Welcome back, sir. Don't move."

"I got that, thanks."

The nurse smiled and shook his head disapprovingly. He started to run some test on the Captain, fussing with a few hyposprays and scanners. "Do you remember what happed?" He asked.

Kirk's eyes narrowed in concentration. "Not…really. The ship was having problems and there was someone in sickbay that wasn't supposed to be there. That's all."

The medical officer sighed. "Long story short, we had three Klingons on the starship disguised as Mr. Sulu, Mr. Koestler, and Ms. Chapel. For whatever reason, they wanted you dead and they tried to see to it." He started to feel around the area where Kirk was stabbed, making the Captain wince in pain. The nurse smiled apologetically, "And they nearly succeeded, too. Spock and Chekov came to rescue you after _E_prouve told them you were in trouble."

Kirk blinked, then closed his eyes. "Oh. Now I remember. Reltseok."

"Who?" The officer asked, tilting his head to the side.

"Nothing. Can I go?" The Captain asked, staring longingly at the door. The medic crossed his arms.

"No, sir. You need to stay here for _at least_ another eight days. Have some patience and be thankful you're alive." He walked toward the intercom , leaving the annoyed Kirk with another officer to tend to him. The nurse flipped a switch and leaned against the wall while he scanned over sickbay with his eyes.

"Sickbay to Mr. Spock."

"Spock here." The Vulcan answered immediately.

"Mr. Spock, you might be glad to hear that the Captain is awake and perfectly fine, though he needs to recover and we need to keep him under surveillance for at least another eight days, probably more."

"Or less," Kirk called from his bed.

"No, not less." The nurse retorted, glaring back at the Captain in annoyance.

"Very well, thank you. Has there been any progress with the other victims?" Spock responded, relieved that Kirk was okay but still concerned about the more critical McCoy.

"Negative, sir. I'm sorry to report that the crewmen are getting worse, and…well, two have died, Mr. Spock.*****" The medical officer replied reluctantly, looking over to two bodies covered with white sheets.

Spock was silent for a moment. "That is most troubling. Please proceed to attempt a cure."

"Aye, Mr. Spock."

"Spock out."

Kirk's eyes were wide, his face pale and his heart beating fast. He was almost afraid to look over to the other end of sickbay, but he did, and regretted it instantly. While there were several other officers there, Kirk's eyes were glued to the still, pale body of his best friend, Leonard McCoy…and the life support system he was hooked up to. The nurse who had taken over as temporary C.M.O walked back over to Kirk.

"You're lucky Spock and Chekov got to you when they did." He said. "If those Klingons did whatever they did to them—" He motioned toward the many dying officers. "—to you, well…" The officer trailed off and Kirk winced. He didn't have to finish that sentence to know that there was very little hope for his crew.

This time, if Kirk were to say it was his fault, he would be correct. Being in command automatically made every death his responsibility, but this time the intruders were only on board because they wanted revenge on _him_. A while back, when Jim had been quite new at being in command, he had a run-in with a Klingon starship. They had both beamed down to the nearest planet and after one thing led to another, it was Kirk and his landing party verses Reltseok and his landing party.

Reltseok had knocked Kirk's phaser to the ground and it, naturally, broke. Kirk dove for it, having no other defense, and attempted to fix it. He accidentally crossed some of the wrong wires, and when he fired the phaser it hit four Klingons at the same exact time. Good thing? No. Immediately after that the phaser began sparking and smoking, so James instinctively threw it in the direction of the enemy. The phaser shorted out and exploded, but not before it shot out lasers at random, destroying 99% of the Klingon landing party.

As much as Jim hated to admit, there really was no reason for the fight. Both he and Reltseok were inexperienced as captains and acted rashly, acting simply on stereotypes and instincts. Accusations and insults turned into a bloodbath. It was, entirely, Captain James T. Kirk's fault; at least in his eyes.

And because it was his fault, Reltseok and Lepahc and A'rakih wanted their revenge. Because Kirk had messed up, two of his crewmen were dead. Over twenty five in the process of dying. One his best friend. Yes, this was sure to look great on his record. Why was it always _his_ crew that had problems like this?

It wouldn't have been as bad if there were more medics. The majority of the dying crewmen were in sickbay the last time they were seen/heard from. No one that was in sickbay at the time had escaped. Over thirty officers that had been injured during turbulence, and around twenty nurses and doctors. There were only twelve medical officers conscious throughout the entire ship. They had all been either in the mess hall or getting something at the time when sickbay was attacked. Twelve nurses, four male and the rest female, were simply not enough four nearly fifty victims.

"Sir, you need to calm down. I understand you must have a lot of things on your mind, but your heart's beating way too fast considering you almost just died. Keep freaking out and you'll have a panic attack, and then you'll be in sickbay for a month."

"How am I supposed to calm down when my crew is—" Kirk gasped, having subconsciously sat up while he was talking. He immediately plopped back down, trembling in pain. He didn't know what hurt more—his ribs, or the gash on his back which undoubtedly punctured one of his lungs.

"Captain! Are you alright?" The nurse asked, alarmed. "See? Let that be a lesson to you. I told you before not to sit up. You'll start to bleed again."

Jim's eyes were closed in pain. He smiled weakly and muttered, "Heh, for a moment there, you…you sounded just…like Bones…"

The medic cursed as he scrambled for a hypo, something that was beginning to grow scarce. "Damn it. He lost consciousness again." He announced to the other officers, shaking his head. "I'm not trained for this. We need a surgeon." The medic looked over to McCoy, pale as a sheet. "Scratch that. We need a miracle."

* * *

"If you don't mind, I think I will take a short visit to sickbay," Spock said as he rose from the Captain's chair. "Mr. Chekov, you're in charge until Mr. Scott arrives."

"Aye, sir."

Uhura looked over her shoulder. "Checking up on the Captain, Spock?" She asked with a sly smile.

"Well, considering that _The Enterprise_ is not in mortal peril at the moment, now seems the best time." Spock responded honestly.

"Of course, sir. The logical thing to do." said Nyota as she winked. Spock raised an eyebrow.

"As always, Lieutenant."

Nyota smiled, shaking her head as she turned back to her post and hailed Scotty. The half-Vulcan slowly walked off of the bridge, not wanting to become disoriented again. Spock stepped onto the turbolift and leaned against the wall as he was taken to the sickbay area.

He found that today, his thought process and priorities were both a bit bungled. Only a few hours ago he had refused to leave his post even though he was suffering from extreme blood loss. Yet now, Spock had almost completely perfect health, and he goes to sickbay for no particular reason at all. Kirk was fine. McCoy was not. Being in sickbay would not help that situation. Spock sighed. The humans were starting to rub off on him.

…Then again, it would also be logical to assume that his thought process was failing due to the blood loss. Yes, of course. How could he think correctly whilst he was recovering from a critical injury?

The turbolift opened and Spock exited it, heading toward sickbay. Standing outside the entrance was a man who the Vulcan assumed was the temporary CMO. He was leaning on his side against the wall, staring bitterly at the ground. Dark circles had formed under his eyes since the last time Spock saw him. There was blood spattered across his arms and chest, and he looked as if he had given up all hope, as if he regret not being able to do something.

"Are you alright, officer?" Spock asked. There was silence, then the medic lets out a quiet but deep sigh.

"I suppose I can't save _every_ person that walks into sickbay."

"That would be quite unlikely." The First Officer responded sympathetically. "Would I be correct in assuming that more deaths have occurred?"

The nurse only nodded. He stepped into sickbay with the Vulcan trailing behind. "Six more have died. We still don't know _why_. And the Captain is unconscious again. There wasn't much we could do for him while he was awake, and we lost him."

Spock raised an eyebrow, glancing toward his friend. There was no getting around it: he did not look well. "I see. Will he recover?"

The medic frowned and reluctantly opened his mouth to speak, only to be interrupted by a commotion at the opposite end of sickbay.

"No, no, no…come on, no!" A nurse was fussing with a few hypos and an officer whose life was failing. She injected various medicines, she tried to restart the life support system, but it proved useless. The flat line on the monitor remained, mocking all of the medical officers. Daring them to save someone. The nurse finally gave up with a long sigh and covered the body with a sheet.

The temporary CMO shook his head. "Nine officers dead. Nine. The autopsies haven't shown us anything. We're out of time. Whatever those Klingons did to the crewmen, there's no more time to fix it. It's over. Too late."

Spock couldn't help it. He stared at McCoy. Bones could have saved them. Long after time ran out. "Please do not blame yourself, officer. With the lack of doctors, deaths are to be expected. The—" He cut himself off, hearing something in the corridor. The medic turned to the door as well, skeptical.

"Move! Move, move, move, move, _move!_" The Vulcan heard someone say. "Dammit, out of the way! Quick, quick, quick!" There was a crashing sound made against the door to sickbay. The doors quickly slid open to reveal a very crowded hallway, and _E_prouve stumbling into the room, a hand on her forehead. "Ouch…oh! Nurse!Mr. Spock!TheKlingonsdrugged'em!Somethingcalledhtaedozine!That'ssomekindaforeignpoison,right?!" _E_prouve said, far too fast for anyone to understand. Spock and the nurse just stared incomprehensibly. The Ensign coughed, out of breathe from running the whole way.

"Ms. _E_prouve, I gave you permission to go back to your post, _not_ to run around the ship. If you overdo it, you'll pass out again—"

"Sorry, sir, no time for that! Htaedozine—" Emily coughed.

"Htaedozine, Ensign?" Spock asked, raising a brow. "I believe that is a drug once manufactured on Orion by combining a tenth of a milliliter of dark matter with arsenic. It caused the victim to fall into a coma. If the poison was not cleared out of the victim's body with a blood transplant, it would reach the sufferer's cardiovascular system and cause heart failure. The federation outlawed all production of htaedozine twenty-seven point six three years ago."

"But, sir, we scanned for all known poisons and drugs." The nurse explained, confused. The Ensign stayed quiet for a moment, staring thoughtfully at the floor.

"…'_Shadow Tonic'_…" Emily muttered, not looking up.

"'_Shadow Tonic'_, Ensign?" The medic questioned. She only nodded. The nurse stayed silent, so Spock spoke.

"Ms. _E_prouve, as the Captain would say, I do believe you have 'earned your pay for the week.'"

She beamed. "Thank you, sir."

"Htaedozine was also known as 'Shadow Tonic'. Nicknamed so due to the fact that it often appeared on scans and autopsies as a surplus of calcium." Spock stated, facing the temporary CMO. "I am _quite_ surprised that you were unaware of this."

"I'm only in charge of sickbay because I'm ranking officer at the moment." Said the nurse. "I'm still only a chief petty officer."

"Holy crap."

"Well said, Ensign."

The nurse blushed, then cleared his throat. "Fifty three blood transfusions coming right up." He said. "Listen up, give every one of these officers a full blood transfusion." The medic announced. "Stat. And for goodness sakes," He said with a sigh. "Give it to Chief Medical Officer McCoy first."

* * *

Kirk had gained consciousness again after Spock found more hypos. He was in more pain than he had been in a while, paler than pale and covered in a coat of sweat. His mouth was slightly parted, breathing heavily, and his stare would not stray away from the wall next to him. The available medical officers had been able to stop the bleeding and cover it, and wrap his chest to hopefully help his ribs heal, but nothing else. Most of the pain killers had been used up, though some was able to be given to the Captain. It helped, but not much. Jim was in serious trouble.

Sitting next to him was _E_prouve. Spock ordered her to watch him, to talk to him even if he wasn't listening in order to keep him awake. If Kirk passed out again, they might not be able to wake him up. Emily wasn't good at ranting unless she was questioning someone. Spock had stayed in sickbay for a while, but finally decided that he was just getting in the way and was needed on the bridge. The Ensign offered to leave instead so Spock could stay, but he simply replied that he needed to perform his duty as a Starfleet officer. So the girl was stuck in her least favorite part of the ship with her own personal worst fear: her friends dying. Sure, in a few minutes they wouldn't be dying _anymore_, but another officer had died. Ten deaths in one day.

The Captain had been thinking about this. His hands trembled weakly, his eyelids slowly descended…

"_Captain._." _E_prouve said breathlessly, taking one of his hands. Kirk's eyes reopened. "I'm sorry, Jim, I know you're tired; but you _must_ stay awake." She folded her arms, looking to the other end of sickbay. They had just begun to filter out McCoy's blood. She quickly looked away, then sighed. "Don't worry, sir. Bones will be fine. Soon he'll wake up and come help you, then he'll save the other officers. Then you'll recover and go back to running the ship."

"You said before that a cure was found. What's going on?" Kirk asked, his voice scarcely louder than a whisper.

"The Klingons managed to get hold of an illegal poison known as htaedozine, or 'Shadow Tonic'. They used it to knock out Sulu, Koestler, and Chapel, and later all of sickbay. They must have ran out before they got to us, it is pretty rare. It can be cured with a blood transfusion, and that's what the medics are doing right now."

"Good…but why didn't they know sooner?" The Captain questioned.

_E_prouve bit her lip. "Well, sir, among the medical officers available, the highest ranking officer was—temporarily—promoted to Chief Medical Officer. However…even though he holds the highest rank, he is still…relatively inexperienced."

Kirk finally broke eye contact with the wall and turned his head to face her. She looked down sheepishly. " 'Relatively inexperienced', Ms. _E_prouve?"

"Well…yes, sir."

"Might I ask, what is his rank?"

The Ensign stiffened, looking away from the Captain. "You don't want to know."

"Ensign."

"Oh, you know…just a few ranks below 'Admiral'…"

Kirk was officially annoyed. "Emily," He said sternly. "Tell me what the rank is of our CMO."

_E_prouve put a hand through her hair, still avoiding his glare. "Well…given the circumstances, we were lucky we even had someone with a rank as high as he did. The other medics were only petty officers." She coughed quietly, and glanced at Kirk. He was in no mood for games. "…Chief petty officer, Captain."

Jim's mouth dropped open and his eyes widened in rage. The Ensign laughed nervously. "Now, now, don't be angry…Spock and I weren't too happy when we heard it, either."

Kirk began to sit up, "Are you telling me that throughout this whole crisis, sickbay was being run by _an enlisted man—_"

"—No. Bad Kirk. Lie down. Don't make me do what Bones would want and plaster you to the bed." _E_prouve interrupted as she lightly pushed him back down. The Captain just let out a quiet groan.

"Whatever. I suppose it doesn't matter as long as the work gets done efficiently." He said quietly. "How'd you manage to get the intruders to tell you?"

"I annoyed the crap out of them."

Kirk stared at her skeptically, she just shrugged. The Chief petty officer walked in, covered in blood. He didn't look triumphant, but he didn't look defeated either. He faced the two officers and sighed.

"The transfusion worked. Heart rate is climbing. But there's no way that McCoy will even be able to stand for another three days, let alone operate. He should wake up in four or so hours, and when he does we'll ask what we should do for you." The medic said, shaking his head. The thought of being incapacitated the way he was for four more hours did not amuse the Captain. He closed his eyes, and no one tried to stop him.

"Did the transfusion go well? I mean, did you have any problems? You said that was your first time doing any kind of operation." Emily asked the officer.

"It went terribly. We barely knew what to do. It was hard." The medic sighed. "For a few minutes…we thought we'd lost him." He admitted, putting a hand through his hair. _E_prouve didn't comment, but her heart skipped a beat as she realized she was trusting an enlisted man who had absolutely no experience whatsoever with her friends' lives. Nice, Emily. Real loyal.

"Well, now you know for next time." She said with a cough. "I would help Koestler first since he was the first one who got poisoned—" _E_prouve stopped when she saw the look on the medic's face. "He's already dead?" she asked, eyes wide. He nodded.

"He was the first one we lost."

Emily was silent for a moment. "I see." She sighed. "That's too bad…well, in that case please help Sulu. He was second. Then Ms. Chapel, then whoever."

"Yes, ma'am." The officer went back to the other medics so they could help Sulu and Chapel before it was too late. Kirk let out a quiet whimper, breaking the Ensign's thoughts. She looked over to him fearfully.

"You alright, Captain?" _E_prouve questioned urgently. He opened his eyes, grimacing.

"I've been better," Kirk managed to choke out.

"Hold on, Jim. You've _got to _stay awake. Please." The girl begged.

* * *

_"Ma'am, check out these readings. I think he's going to wake up soon."_

_"You may be right." There was silence. "So…what are we supposed to do about it?"_

_"How should I know! I told you I'm only a chief petty officer. You're an ensign."_

_"That makes no difference! I'm not a doctor!"_

_"Well, maybe if you had gotten the information sooner—"_

_"Don't you dare go blaming this on me, at least I know how to do my job! The Captain needs help and neither you nor your team know how to do anything but organize hyposprays, and you can't even do that cor—"_

McCoy slowly sat up to see what all the commotion was about. He winced and lowered himself back down, deciding that wasn't the greatest idea. He looked himself over, seeing no physical injuries at all. Dizzy, weak, pale, out of breath, and covered in sweat and blood, yet no cuts or broken bones. Did he get sick?

"At long last, our savior hath returned!" _E_prouve said cheerfully, going over to the side of his bed. "Are you alright, Bones? Had me worried."

Lenard looked up at the girl. "Feel like I just got bit by a vampire."

"No, just an inexperienced nurse." The Ensign motioned toward the man, who backed up sheepishly. McCoy sat up a little bit, not enough to make him dizzy but enough so that he could see. His lips parted slightly, his brow contracted in confusion.

"That man only signed on yesterday! He's just supposed to help with the crew's physical exams…"

_E_prouve glared at the nurse. "Yes, we figured that out ourselves. Do you remember what happened?" She asked the doctor. McCoy stayed silent, staring at the ceiling for a moment while he thought.

"…Christine." Bones finally stated. "And that boy. What's-his-name. The transporter officer. They came into sickbay while I was treating someone with a concussion. They had tanks with them…they started spraying this purple gas. Someone breathed it in and started choking…I tried to hold my breath, but you can only do that for so long, you know? I guess I blacked out and inhaled some."

"Whoa. May I say, doctor, that so far you're the only person who remembered what happened without anyone telling them?" The nurse said.

"I'm guessing there weren't many medical officers outside of sickbay when we were attacked?" McCoy said with a sigh.

"Only, like, five people. The highest ranking officer was him—a _chief petty officer_. We had _him_ running sickbay. None of the medics knew what to do."

"Great," Bones said, rolling his eyes. "So what happened after I lost consciousness? Is everything okay now?"

"It's all being taken care of. Mostly. Uhm, all of sickbay was put into a hidden room that took forever to find…_E_prouve figured out that Mr. Sulu, Ms. Chapel…and Mr. Koestler had been captured, and three Klingons were aboard the ship. They had been surgically altered to look like Starfleet officers. They led the Captain into sickbay, broke his ribs, and stabbed him. His lung's been punctured. Spock was stabbed too, but he's alright now. Spock and Chekov came to rescue Kirk after _E_prouve told them what was going on, and then…yeah. Fifty three officers, including you, unconscious for no known reason. The Klingons were interrogated. They used htaedozine gas. Ten officers are already dead. We've given thirty blood transfusions already and we're almost out of hypos." The nurse explained.

"Wait—Kirk and Spock were stabbed?" Bones repeated, eyes wide. The nurse nodded.

"Spock's okay. He's at his post. Jim _was_ okay, but now he's not." _E_prouve said with a quiet cough. "You can't get up for a while, so we need you to explain what we're supposed to do for him. If you're up to it." McCoy got even paler, the dark circles under his eyes became more prominent.

"The Captain's in a coma. All but two of his ribs are damaged, two-thirds cracked, one-third broken. He was stabbed in the back and punctured his lung." The medic told the CMO. Bones closed his eyes for a second, a trickle of sweat dripping down his face. After a minute or so, he explained to the officer what he needed to do, and he acknowledged.

"Do it quickly. It may already be too late." McCoy added. The officer nodded and swiftly left to go help Kirk. Lenard sighed and leaned back. He then looked up to see the Ensign, looking pretty stressed out. He wasn't surprised, she hated blood with a burning passion. She'd probably had to have dealt with the sickbay issue all day…he narrowed his eyes slightly, noticing something.

"My God, Emily!" Bones said, sitting up. "What happened to your neck?" He demanded, staring at the large and painful-looking bruises.

_E_prouve smiled sadly at him. "Just had a run-in with one of the Klingons. I'm fine now."

Lenard shook his head distastefully as the same nurse walked over to them, smiling proudly. "Good news. The Captain's heart rate has gone back to normal, his fever is down and he seems to be in less pain. We can expect him to wake up within the hour." He said cheerfully.

Emily and Bones sighed with relief in unison. "Great."

* * *

One week later, all of the htaedozine sufferers had fully recovered and were back at their stations. There had not yet been a funeral for the victims, since the Captain wasn't allowed to leave sickbay yet. Reltseok, Lepach, and A'rakih were all taken into custody by two Starfleet ambassadors. Chekov was _quite_ glad to have the real Sulu back, who was shocked that no one picked up on the fact that it wasn't really him sooner than they did. Ms. Chapel felt the same way, and gave Dr. McCoy the silent treatment for days. Spock took the liberty of updating the Captain's log while Kirk was recovering. In order to restock their equipment and recharge their dilithium, _The Enterprise_ headed to the nearest starbase.

"Bones," The Captain moaned, glaring at the ceiling. "I'm bored out of my mind. Can't you let me go back on duty? Just once?"

McCoy leaned against a desk, giving his friend a look. "They aren't even doing anything up there, Jim. We only left the starbase an hour ago. And if I let you leave now, you'll want me to do it again the next time you get hurt."

Kirk raised an eyebrow. "You expecting me to get injured again, doctor?" He asked, crossing his arms.

"Yes."

"Thanks, doc. Nice to know my crew has faith in me."

"I'm always here for you, Jim." McCoy said with a smile as he walked over to the Captain. He began to scan him and run some tests. Kirk just rolled his eyes with a sigh, muttering something about a captain's right to his ship as Lenard finished up with a physical exam. When he was done, he leaned against the wall and smiled at his friend. "Alright, Captain, you can go back to the bridge. _The Enterprise_ isn't the same when that green-blooded hobgoblin is in command. But don't overdo it or you'll be back in here again. If you feel lightheaded go straight to your courters and lie down until you feel better. Then lie down longer."

Kirk smiled. "I got it, Bones, don't worry." He said as he stood up. "Thanks." The Captain quickly headed for the exit before McCoy could change his mind.

"I mean it, Kirk, this is a one time deal!" The doctor called after him.

_To boldly go where no man has gone before…_

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**A/N: That's that. Please read my future stories. You may like the new, lesser-Sue Emily _E_prouve. If you stick with my stories, you might even find out why she's always coughing...or Scotty's life story, or see Spock save Bones's life...some sad stories, some crackfics, some songfics...some non-Star Trek fics. Whatever it may be, I hope you like Fake Out.**

**(I'm sure that one male nurse was just promoted to a higher rank.)**


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